The Rose Gamer
by Flamestar0096
Summary: The World of Remnant is a cacophony of death, despair, and other depressing subjects. The only ones that keep the creatures of darkness, the Grimm, at bay, are the Hunters. And even then, most are just children, and hunting is a game to others. Well, for one Huntress in training, her life is literally a game. And she will try to save the world with her power. Eventual BumbleBY!
1. Starting things off with a 'Yang'

**Hello everyone! Still need to figure out a better introduction to you all… but, instead of Rise of the Chosen this week, I'm going to try and make a Ruby Rose Gamer fic. Not original, I know, but hey, if you guys like it, I might just connect it to Gamer of the World if I get good enough at this. The OS is going to be a little different, seeing as The Gamer isn't a Semblance, so she'll still have her Speed semblance which I am going to affectionately name Ruby Petals. Or maybe Flowing Petals. Either way, this is just a test chapter to see if you guys like it, so it won't be as long, and if you don't, then I'll just work on this one as a side project to clear my head of all RWBY related thoughts to focus on the other stories. So, without further delay and stalling, let us delve into the world of Remnant! ... Wait. Disclaimer. I, The Black Mew, do not own any intellectual property of Rooster Teeth or Sangyoung Seong and Sang-A. There. Here we go!**

* * *

"Speech"

'Scroll Message'

' _Thought'_

 **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

 _Ruby was kneeling in front of her mother's grave, visiting her like she had every week, telling her about her life with her family, like her sister Yang, and how much trouble she was causing, or how her Uncle Qrow was training her to be a Huntress, or how cute Zwei is. "Well, that's about it mom. I… I really hope that you're hearing me, and that you're out there… somewhere." The girl stood and then turned to leave the grave of her mother. As she walked through the forest to her home, she entered large clearing, as well as being met with a large pack of pure black werewolf like creatures with red eyes and red fangs. Her red hood shrouded her eyes as she stared the pack down, analyzing the situation. Suddenly three of the many werewolves pounced at her, snarling. The girl tilted her head to meet them, and as they slashed at where she was, she appeared high in the air, her hood revealing her short black hair with red ends, and her silver eyes. Where the wolves slashed through, were only rose petals that scattered in the wind._

 _The girl stared at the pack from above, her form blocking the moonlight slightly. She reached for the red and black object on her side with her left hand, gripped the bottom of it, and pressed a button on its side. She pulled the box off of her side and watched as it unfolded into a bolt action rifle. She swung her arm to point the end of the barrel at one of the werewolves and then fired, blowing half of its face off, its body slowly dissolving into rose petals. She landed on the ground and pulled the bolt on the gun back to reload it and then flipped over a charging wolf, taking the opportunity to blow its head off. She reloaded in the air and as she was landing, took another shot at a wolf, twisting in the air to avoid the body, which now had a large hole in its left side. The girl then reloaded as she rolled forward and then aimed upwards to fire another high caliber round into a wolf, blasting it back with a hole in its side, the recoil making her roll backwards. She pushed off of the ground as she pulled a small ring at the end of the gun to allow the gun to unfold into a very large scythe, which was much taller then her. It was amazing that she could even hold it._

 _The girl in red spun to catch a wolf with the blade of her scythe. She stared it down as it snarled at her, in which she responded with a smirk and a pull of the trigger, then she cut the wolf in half as a gunshot rang out through the night. The corpse fell and dissolved into rose petals. She slowly rose from her crouching position and turned to look at the encroaching pack of wolves. She began to spin her scythe vertically, reloading her weapon halfway through the first spin, then stabbed the end of her weapon into the ground and fired four shots at the pack, killing four targets. She pulled the scythe from the ground and jumped to avoid the claw swipe of a wolf that had gotten close. She pulled the trigger and took out the wolf, the recoil of the shot sending her flying, forcing her to stop herself by stabbing her scythe into the ground again. The girl flipped onto the handle of the weapon and then looked back at the horde and as it got close, she had to flip herself using the weapon to dodge the attack and then fired off another round, killing another wolf as she used the momentum from the attack to drop kick the wolf that attacked her and push off of it, flipping in the air and landing on her feet to slash at the wolf in front of her._

 _She spun her scythe around her, cutting the one that she kicked in half, while also firing off a string of shots to power her attacks to sever the limbs of the one in front of her. The girl knocked it out of the way and then hooked the neck of another one and turned away from it, holding her scythe in a reverse grip. She pulled the trigger of it, firing off another round as she yanked it forward, decapitating the wolf, making it dissolve into rose petals. Red then spun out of the way of another claw swipe and then slashed at the wolf twice, spinning to do it. The second slash hooked the wolf at the abdomen, and bisected it as she pulled the trigger once more, the top half of the body going flying and hitting another wolf. She flipped over her scythe as it was hooked on the now dead wolf to see that her shot had killed another wolf behind that one she cut in half. The girl then flipped over another claw swipe and then flipped once more to dodge a second one. As the girl rushed the other two wolves, the area faded to white as a loud ringing was heard._

* * *

A girl with short black and red hair groaned as she reached for an alarm clock to stop the ringing. "Five… more minutes Yang… We don't go to Signal today…remember?" She took off her sleep mask and then slammed her hand onto the alarm. "Stupid clock…Waking me up before my hunter dream could finish!" The girl with silver eyes grabbed the clock and threw it across the room, breaking it immediately. She then saw a window thing pop up in front of her. "Uhwuh…?" She looked at the window and poked at it. When she saw that it was real, she yelped and then fell out of her bed.

 **You have slept in your own bed!**

 **100% HP, MP, and AP recovered! All negative status effects have been removed!**

"Ruby! Get up lazybones!" A girl with long yellow hair walked into the room and then began to laugh at the position Ruby was in. "Y-You fell out of your bed again!"

Ruby sighed. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up Yang." She stood up and then smiled. "Morning."

Yang smirked and pulled Ruby into a hug. "Mornin' little sis! You slept in early today, so dad made me wake you up. Remember? The school year starts soon, and you haven't made any real progress with Uncle Qrow's training. You're really good, but…"

Ruby nodded. "That might not be enough. Everyone keeps telling me that. But you guys don't have to worry! I still have this year AND next year to get better! But… can you let go? You're kinda smushing me."

Yang looked down to see her sister being suffocated in between her breasts. She let go of Ruby and chuckled sheepishly. "Whoops! Forgot that you were short there for a sec! Anyways, come downstairs. Dad wants you to walk Zwei after breakfast."

Ruby groaned and then had a pity stare at Yang. "Can't you do it…?"

Yang smirked. "Nope! Besides, we're having strawberry pancakes!" As soon as Yang said that, Ruby was already rushing down the stairs, which knocked Yang over. "Ruby! I just finished fixing my hair!"

Ruby didn't care as she slid down the banister to the stairs. The window was still in her face. "Ugh. Go away!" She swiped at the window, making it disappear. ' _Oh. Well good.'_ Ruby then jumped off of the railing and then landed in a chair at the table, where a large stack of strawberry pancakes were waiting for her. She just started stuffing her face without saying anything, then paused when she heard someone clear their throat. Ruby slowly looked over at the person and then swallowed. "T-Thanks dad!"

 **The Dragon**

 **Tai Yang Xiao Long**

 **LV: ?**

Tai Yang smiled softly. "You're welcome Ruby. Now hurry up. After you walk Zwei, you have the rest of the day to slack off like you usually do."

"Daaaad!" Ruby whined a bit, but then quickly finished her pancakes, then hooked a leash onto Zwei's collar. "I'll be back in a bit dad. You know how this fluffball loves to run around!" She was about to leave the house, then made an embarrassed noise when she realized that she was still in her pajamas. Ruby quickly ran upstairs and saw words above Yang too.

 **Burning Heart**

 **Yang Xiao Long**

 **LV: 35**

She ignored it though and quickly got dressed in her normal attire, and then sighed when she saw herself in a mirror. "I'll make you proud mom." She smiled and then noticed words above her own head.

 **The Gamer**

 **Ruby Rose**

 **LV: 15**

"Wha…?" Ruby stared at the words and then realized that this was probably with everyone! "The Gamer…?" She yelped again as another window popped up in front of her.

 **Welcome Ruby, to your new life, free from the shackles of human limitation! This gift has been granted to you by someone that you cannot know about yet. Unlike the previous Gamer, however, you were not chosen by chance! Your soul is connected to the previous two Gamers, even though it's very distant.**

"Huh…? Other… Start making sense!" Ruby yelled at the window.

"Who needs to start making sense Rubes?" Yang was leaning against the door again, this time in her Hunter outfit.

Ruby flinched as she looked over at Yang. "N-No one! Just… practicing lines that I'm going to say to teachers at Signal!" She chuckled nervously.

Yang stared at Ruby for a minute, before shrugging. "Okay. Half the stuff they teach there is useless anyways, so you'll probably have to tell some of them that." She then walked into the room and opened a window. "I'm going out with my friends. Don't wait up Ruby!" Yang then put on sunglasses and jumped out the window.

Ruby closed the window and then sighed. "Please. Start making sense."

 **!ERROR!**

 **That data cannot be accessed in the tutorial!**

 **Now then, the previous Gamer pointed out some flaws in the OS last time, so we've updated it to be customisable! Currently, windows will pop up in your face whenever something related to this power happens. Obviously, that would be very dangerous in this time, so instead, we've made it to where notifications, unless they're urgent, will show up on the side of your vision. On the right. Take a look.**

Ruby tried to look to her right, but the words moved. "...Oh. On the side of my vision." She then just focused her attention on the text appearing on her right.

 **Very good Ruby!**

 **Now then, say 'Status'**

"Umm… **S-Status** …?" Ruby stared at the window that popped up in front of her

 **Name: Ruby Rose**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Semblance: Flowing Petals (Stage 1)**

 **LV: 15 Next Level: 0.00%**

 **HP: 375/375 (Regen: 7.5 per minute)**

 **MP: 0/0 (Regen: 0)**

 **AP: 500/500 (Regen 10(7.5+2.5 per minute)**

 **STR: 15**

 **VIT: 15**

 **DEX: 25**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 5**

 **LUK: 5**

 **Lien: 0**

 **Stat Points: 0**

 **Traits:**

 **Silver Eyes (Stage 1): Minor [Fear] status inflicted on all Grimm**

Ruby blinked. "So that's the name of my Semblance. I always just called it 'Speed'. But what's with the whole 'Stage 1' thing? And my eyes? What's up with my eyes?"

 **So many questions! You can look for yourself! For now, you can open your skills for now by saying 'Skills'**

Ruby thought for a minute. She had played video games before. Not many of them, but she had. "Wait, if this is a game, then I have an Inventory to store a ton of cookies inside of! I-I do have an Inventory right? **Inventory**!"

 **Miss Rose! As much as we encourage freedom, we must ask that you stick to the tutorial. And… as a reward, you will be given a cookie.**

"Really!?"

 **Yes.**

"Yay! **Skills**!"

 **Gamer's Mind** **(Passive) LVMAX: A skill only given to The Gamer, it allows the Gamer always be able to think things through calmly and logically.**

 **Allows a peaceful state of mind**

 **Grants immunity to all psychological effects**

 **Grants immunity to all mental disorders (Past disorders do not intensify)**

 **Gamer's Body** **(Passive) LVMAX: A skill only granted to the Gamer, it allows one to live their life as a video game.**

 **Fully restores all HP, MP, and AP upon rest, as well as removing all fatigue**

 **Removes all negative status effects upon rest.**

 **Rifle Mastery** **(Passive) LV: 20: While you may only train in one form of rifle, they are so similar that you get six skills in one!**

 **\+ 30% accuracy when using pistols**

 **\+ 25% Critical Hit chance when using pistols**

 **\+ 25% damage dealt when using pistols**

 **Scythe Mastery** **(Passive) LV: 25: Only a handful of people in the world have mastered the art of the reaper. Good luck!**

 **\+ 35% damage when using Scythes**

 **\+ 30% critical hit chance when using Scythes**

 **\- 40% durability loss to all Scythes**

Ruby was about to close the window, when she hummed. "Wait… that Status screen showed my Semblance… but wouldn't THIS be my semblance?"

 **There are different kinds of abilities that can come separate of your aura and Semblance. Now then, you already know that you have an Inventory, so don't worry about that. You also have options, but those are just superficial. Now, because of the last Gamer, and because of your… predicament, we have given you a Map system, seeing as you have a tendency to get lost all the time. Just say 'Map', and it will automatically show up for you if you've been to the area before. Like any good RPGs though, you have to earn it, so you'll have to walk around the area if you don't live in there or go there all the time. So right now you have a map of Patch, and the CITY of Vale. Not the Kingdom.**

Ruby nodded at the window, making all of them close.

 **That's all for the tutorial. As promised, here is your cookie.**

She looked around for a cookie, then slapped herself on the forehead. " **Inventory**?" A gridded screen appeared in front of her, and inside of it was a cookie. Ruby immediately grabbed it and began to eat it happily. "R-Right. I need to walk Zwei." She shoved the treat into her mouth and grabbed her baby off of the dresser. She clipped it to her side out of habit and then slid down the banister again to grab Zwei. "Sorry about that Dad! Yang left through our window again bye!" She rushed out the door with Zwei, leaving Tai Yang confused.

"…Yang jumped out a window?!"

* * *

Once Ruby dropped Zwei off at the house after their walk, she began to wander in the forest. After a while, she began to hear shotgun blasts in the distance. "Yang…" She ran towards the source to see Yang fighting a pack of Beowolves. Ruby glared at the Grimm as she unfolded her weapon, which she named Crescent Rose.

 **Trait: [Silver Eyes] has activated!**

"Hey!" Ruby shouted at the pack of Grimm. She rushed towards them, yelling to keep their attention on her.

Yang looked over at her sister as she backhanded one of the Beowolves. "Hey sis! You mind helping me a little? I'm running out of shells to blow these guys up with!" She then punched one of the wolf type Grimm in the face with a blast of a fire Dust shell, sending it flying as it died.

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **Thinning the Crowd**

 **Main Objective: Get rid of the Grimm with your sister**

 **Side objective: Give her the spare shells she has you always carry.**

 **Main Reward: 150 EXP per Grimm you kill, 200 Lein per Grimm you kill**

 **Side Reward: Increased closeness with Yang**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

' _Yes! I accept it!'_ The window went away and then Ruby ran past two Beowolves, hooking one with blade of her scythe. Ruby smirked as she pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose, cutting the Grimm in half and increasing her speed. She then saw her sister about to get hit by three of them. She quickly shifted the scythe into its rifle form and shot two of them back as Yang hit the third with a spinning kick, sending it into a tree, and toppling said tree. Ruby stood next to Yang as her scythe came forth again. "Here!" She dug in her ammo pouch and pulled out two tightly rolled up, custom made clips for Yang's weapons.

Yang grabbed the shelled and tossed them into the air. "Thanks Ruby!" She flicked her wrists and the used shells were ejected from the golden gauntlets. Yang then swung her arms in opposite directions, forcing the clips to go into her weapons. She quickly got into a battle stance, which reloaded her shot-gauntlets. "Let's do this!" Yang rushed forward and kicked one of the Grimm in the chest, stunning it, then quickly spun around and hit it in the same place, her weapon making it go flying.

Ruby carefully watched the Grimm in front of her, waiting.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action!**

 **Though watching your enemy for the slightest movement, the skill [Observe] has been created!**

 **Observe** **(Passive/Active): LV1 EXP 0.00%**

 **The ability to look past the surface of an object. This skill allows the user to see ally and enemy status pages, and quite possibly discern true intentions.**

 **Grants information of the target to the user.**

 **Passively allows the user to view Names, Titles, Semblances, and Levels.**

Suddenly, Ruby could see the words above the soon to be Beowolf corpses.

 **Pack Hunter**

 **Beowolf**

 **LV: 10**

Ruby's gaze narrowed at the Grimm, and for some reason, they flinched. So she used that moment to rush in throw one of them in the air, then shoot a hole into its chest. Her expression became more serious, kinda like her dream as she rendered another one from its arms and then finished it by shooting it in its face. She quickly stabbed backwards, making one of the Grimm stumble back as she hooked another one's legs and swept it off of its feet. She finished it by slamming the tip of her scythe into its head and into the ground. As the body faded, she began to fire at the three in front of her. She missed a few times, but she was still able to get them. She then glanced behind her to see the one she jabbed earlier rush her. She jumped out of the way and let it impale itself on the spike at the bottom of her weapon.

Yang finished off her last Beowolf as well, and dusted off her hands as she walked back over to Ruby. "Thanks for the help sis! Punching these things with no explosions is just so boring."

Ruby groaned as she yanked the dissolving body off of Crescent Rose. "Now my baby's all dirty…" She tilted her head at its description though.

 **Crescent Rose (Custom made)**

 **This special made Scythe/High Impact Sniper Rifle combo was custom made by Ruby Rose in a forge in Vale. Painted with Red and Black paints, and affectionately called 'Sweetheart' or her baby by her.**

 **25-40 damage**

 **15% critical chance**

 **\+ 50% Scythe Mastery EXP gain when wielded by Ruby Rose**

 **\+ 20% accuracy when wielded by Ruby Rose**

She then looked at Yang. "I keep telling you to carry more ammo with you! And aren't you supposed to be hanging out with your friends?"

Yang shrugged. "They didn't show up, so I went home while you were on your walk and wanted to blow off some steam, and there were these Grimm so I miiiiight have killed some of them out of rage, but I'm good now."

Ruby sighed as she pulled Crescent Rose from the ground. "Honestly Yang… can you please try to solve things without punching them? I mean, Grimm are a good thing to punch, but have you tried… training more using that?"

Yang smirked. "Why train when I can punch things now?"

Ruby sighed and then looked at the ground where she killed her Grimm and saw Lien cards on the ground. She was about to pick them up, when a loud howl came from nearby.

Yang laughed a bit. "Looks like we got a big one Rubes! You ready?!"

Ruby nodded as she waited for the enemy to appear. When it did, it… well it certainly made an entrance. She looked up on instinct and saw a much larger Beowolf pouncing at the space in front of them, like it was making an entrance.

 **The Big Bad Wolf**

 **Alpha Beowolf**

 **LV: 15**

A story that Ruby was read a while ago came to mind when she saw the title of the Beowolf. "Yang, you can help, but this one's mine!" She then rushed towards the enemy and slashed at its arms, blocking a strike from it.

Yang quickly jumped into the air and hit the Grimm in the jaw, getting it off of Ruby. "Don't worry! I can see the joke in it! Little Red Riding Hood killing the Big Bad Wolf! It's hilarious! I mean, that's why you wear the red cloak instead of a white one right?"

Ruby nodded and then reloaded her weapon with Armor Piercing rounds. "Also I like red more then white." She shifted Crescent Rose into its rifle form and then fired three shots at the Alpha Grimm around the same place, blowing three holes in its chest. She then flipped back and fired two rounds into the Alpha's feet.

Yang took Ruby's place and repeatedly hit the Grimm's kneecaps until she heard them break. A savage grin broke out on her face as she was hit hard into a tree.

"Yang! No!" Ruby glared at The Alpha Grimm and growled uncharacteristically and then yelled as she rushed towards it, unfolding her weapon into a scythe.

 **Semblance: [Flowing Petals] has activated**

Ruby ignored the window as her form became surrounded in rose petals. She shifted her scythe to where the blade was pointed directly out instead of being hooked. She then began to spin as she jumped into the air, her Semblance making her go even faster. Ruby pointed the tip of the scythe in front of her and once she impacted the Grimm, her semblance made it to where her scythe could drill through it, leaving a gaping hole in its chest. She then shifted her weapon once more into a rifle and began firing the downed Beowolf once her semblance let her turn around. Ruby then let loose a barrage of gunshots at its head, stopping once the head was gone.

 **[Gamer's Mind] has activated**

As Ruby landed on the ground, she felt an overwhelming sense of calm wash over her. She panted softly and watched as the Grimm slowly dissolved into rose petals.

 **Battle Log:**

 **You have gained 3000 EXP**

Yang stood up and was about to rain hell onto the Alpha Beowolf, when she saw Ruby drill a hole into it and blow its head off! She ran over to Ruby, smiling. "Holy shit sis! That was amazing! Where did that even come from?!" She slapped Ruby on the back and then saw a plastic Lien card. "And helloooo~ What's this?" She bent over to pick it up and then just stared at it. "…Five thousand Lien… you mind if i keep this sis? You can have… a book? Why would a book come from a Grimm?" Yang picked up the book as well and chuckled. "Wow. 'Little Red Riding Hood'. Guess he really was the Big Bad Wolf." She then tossed it to Ruby. "Catch!"

Ruby grabbed the book from the air and then stared at it. "Why would it drop this…?" She then nearly dropped it when a window popped up.

 **You have obtained the skill book for: [Survival]**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Ruby was ecstatic. They only taught that in the last year of Signal, so she hit YES on impulse, then realized that Yang was still around. "S-Sure! You can have it!" The book caught fire with blue flames and then shattered, the shards swirling around Ruby for a moment before slamming into her chest. Ruby gasped as she was pushed back a bit.

 **You have gained the skill: [Survival]**

 **Survival** **(Passive): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%: The knowledge and skill to survive in the wild, weather you're on your own, or in a group.**

 **Knowledge on how to survive**

 **\+ 5% success to foraging**

 **\+ 5% success to all crafting items that fall under 'Survival'**

' _That's kinda boring. But why'd I get that skill from a storybook?'_ Ruby held her breath, hoping that Yang didn't notice.

Unfortunately, Yang is much more perceptive then she lets on. "D-Did you just burn that book?! And did it explode?!"

Ruby groaned and then nodded. "If I tell you how, will you drop it?"

Yang hummed. "I dunno sis. What do I get out of it?"

Ruby then looked around. "How about all of the Lien on the ground?"

"There's more?!" Yang immediately began to run around and look for the money. "Holy crap there IS more! This is amazing!"

Ruby whispered to her ability. "Is there a party system that I can use to show her? I'm not good at explaining things."

 **Of course there is! What do you think this is? But first…**

 **!QUEST COMPLETE!**

 **Thinning the Crowd**

 **Main Objective: Get rid of the Grimm with your sister**

 **Side objective: Give her the spare shells she has you always carry.**

 **Rewards: 1350 EXP, 1800 Lien, Increased closeness with Yang**

"Thank you!" Ruby smiled and then cleared her throat. "Create Party."

 **What would you like to name your party?**

"Cookies! Then **Invite** Yang!"

 **Please specify.**

"… **Invite** Yang Xiao Long…?"

Yang hummed as she picked up the Lien cards, when a window popped up in front of her. "WHOA!" She fell back, then looked at the window, then Ruby, then the window again.

"D-Don't freak out! J-Just push a button on there. If there's one. Think of it like a… a Gaming Semblance, only… it's not… really a Semblance."

Yang looked at Ruby again, then pushed the button on the left that had an 'A' on it. She watched as words popped up above her sister's head. "So… the words on your head. What's with that? The Gamer? Oh! You have a level! Do I have a level?"

Ruby nodded.

"Well what does it say?! Come on sis! Don't keep me waiting!"

Ruby stared at Yang, before sighing. "Burning Heart, Yang Xaio Long, Level 35. You're taking this really well."

Yang laughed a bit. "I'm twenty levels higher then you! And this thing makes your life a game right? That's all I need to know! Buuuuut…" She quickly got up and leaned in close to Ruby. "What else does this thing do~?"

Ruby shook her head with a smile. "Yang, no flirting with your sister. Some people may be into that, but I'm not."

Yang sighed. "Enabler fans will be disappointed to hear that Rubes."

"What fans?"

Yang chuckled. "Nevermind that! So what else does it do? Does it give you stats? Oh! Does it give ME stats?! That would be so cool! Make myself strong enough to punch a building down in just one blow!"

"Yaaaang! Calm down! I don't even know what it can do! Not fully. I mean, I have skills to, a Semblance, Traits-"

"What kind of traits?" Yang appeared behind Ruby and wrapped an arm around her neck.

"W-Well, I have this trait called 'Silver Eyes'."

Yang shrugged. "Yeah. Your eyes are silver. Mine are purple. So what?"

Ruby checked her **Status** page for a second before responding. "It says that at Stage one, it inflicts a minor **[Fear]** status on Grimm. Why do you think that is?"

Yang let go of Ruby. "Holy shit! Grimm are afraid of you because of your eyes?! That's amazing! Anything for me?"

"Let me test something. **[Observe]**."

 **Name: Yang Xiao Long**

 **Title: None**

 **Semblance: Burning Heart**

 **LV: 35**

"Well, I found out that your Semblance is called 'Burning Heart'. But that's it." Ruby sighed. "Well, maybe you can check for yourself. Just say 'Status'."

Yang eyes Ruby for a second, before shrugging. " **Status**!" A window popped up in front of Yang and she leaned forward to stare at a part of it.

Ruby chuckled nervously. "W-What's wrong sis?"

Yang poked at her WIS stat. "Why is this one at five when my STR is at 40?"

Ruby gasped. "You have a STR of forty?! How?!"

Yang smirked. "I punch things. Also I use that weight set in our basement all the time. But everything else is kinda low. Like my INT is at ten, my VIT and DEX are at fifteen, and my WIS and LUK are at five. This power is weird. Welp! 'Game' on!" She chuckled at her own pun, then stared at the other window that popped up. "Oh! I just got a title! It's called 'Pun Master'! I guess sooomeone likes my jokes sis!"

Ruby looked up at the sky, not really knowing where to look to address her power. "Please don't encourage her."

Yang just began to laugh evilly as she equipped the title. "I'm going to have so much fun with this!"

"NOOOOO!" Ruby yelled into the air dramatically.

* * *

 **Okay! That is the first and possibly only chapter of The Rose Gamer, depending on how you guys like it. Again, RWBY/Gamer fic isn't really original, but it's just so fun to write. The characters in the actual anime go together so well, and the plot is vague enough to actually write in your own villains, but still have Salem as another big bad. Or have an ever bigger bad like in The Games We Play. I… don't really know if there are any RWBY fans out there that haven't at least heard of that fanfic, but if you haven't read it, check it out. The first two chapters are kinda slow, but then things get ramped up to an eleven! Anyways! This has been The Black Mew with a test story, and I'll see you all later in the new Rise of the Chosen Chapter I'm working on now.**

 ***Loud crashing***

 **MEW! RUBY! STOP FIGHTING OVER THE COOKIES! Bye everyone! DON'T MAKE ME COME IN THERE!**


	2. Rose with Thorns

***soft sipping noises***

 **Ozpin… how did you get here?**

 **Ozpin: You left your door open. And might I suggest getting a new lock? Your old one seems to have broken.**

 ***Groans* I know. Mew and Ruby fought over cookies, then Yang punched my door down to get Zwei. Ruby brought him here. THEN Blake raided the catnip.**

 **Ozpin: *sips his coffee* Nothing about Weiss?**

 **She's to uptight to care about the stuff I have. Anyways, hello viewers! Like I said, I'm working on Rise of the Chosen, but I actually can't get RWBY out of my head, so until then, I'm just going to post a bunch of chapters on this one until my head is cleared of all things RWBY. Except BumbleBY. I know that I could get hate from it, but they fit so well! So...No Enabler or Puns and Roses stuff. Reviews!**

 **Ozpin: So, people just say what they want in those? So it's like ours, but ours has more Dust involved.**

 **Yeah. Rub it in that I don't have superpowers. Well, I have one. I can cut you off of your coffee.**

 **Ozpin: You wouldn't dare.**

 **Oh I dare.**

 **Glynda: *clears her throat* Shouldn't you two be doing your jobs?**

 **Yeah yeah… But I have a question for you that I'll ask later.**

 **Saint of vice koncor: I actually looked around to see if it was taken, and it wasn't. Or I couldn't find it. And for your recommendations, I've actually read all of those.**

 **Emiliano733: She will eventually be overpowered, but that won't be for a long while. So you don't have to worry about that. Well, to specify, she'll be a Hunter. All of them are overpowered.**

 **Blarg7865: The Gamer OS will update it this chapter to be a little more specific. I noticed that in the last chapter and I'm using an update as an excuse to fix it.**

 **MysticSpider: I thought about it, but then I realized that would be impossible if Yang and her are living together until they technically graduate Beacon. Well, if it didn't get destroyed.**

 **mafia king: I honestly have no clue what that means, but if it means overpowered, don't worry. Beowolves are just really weak.**

 **Dragonsword1000: I wouldn't have Yang do that! She'd have to be at least a LITTLE fast and be able to take a punch! But… basically yeah, that's what she's gonna try.**

 **And to everyone, thank you for your support! Anyways, about that questi-**

 **Ozpin: Enjoy everyone.**

 **Hey! I wa-**

* * *

"Speech"

'Scroll Message'

' _Thought'_

 **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

Yang hummed for a bit as she stared at Ruby. They were both sitting down in the forest. "So… What you're saying is that you have a Gamer ability, Stats, Skills, Inventory, all that jazz, and whoever you're partied up with gets a weaker version of it?"

Ruby quickly read over the **Party** systems. "Uhh… yeah. That's what it's telling me. It says that the only thing that you don't get is an Inventory. But you still have the other stuff."

Yang rushed over to Ruby and grabbed her shoulders. "You HAVE to keep me in this! Please! I already have a new Title! Imagine how fast our training can progress with this!"

"W-Well, may- wait, _our_ training?"

Yang smiled softly. "I'm not just gonna abandon you sis. What kind of person would I be to do that? Instead, I'll help you get stronger, and you help me get faster, okay?"

Ruby nodded with a smile as she stood. "Okay! And we'll hunt Grimm together to get even stronger, right?"

Yang stood as well and patted Ruby on the back. "Yep! We'll punch those guys so hard that they will go running back to their nests! Or wherever they sleep! Then we'll blow those up!" She grinned and then seemed to have a realization. "But you can't tell anyone about this. Not even Dad or Uncle Qrow. We don't know how they'll react to this. And definitely not your Signal freinds."

Ruby was about to protest, but then sighed. "Fine… but… well… can you teach me how to fight without Crescent Rose? I mean, I love her and all, but if I lose her, I'll be useless."

Yang gasped loudly with stars in her eyes. "YES! My little sis wants to punch things with me! YES!"

 **You have gained Yang Xiao Long as an ally! From now on, you will obtain bonuses in training when partied with her!**

"Hey Yang? It says here that I get bonuses from partying with you. Any idea of what it could be?" Ruby pointed at the window.

Yang was too busy being happy and being her to hear Ruby.

Ruby sighed and then looked up. "Umm… is there some way that I can look at that? Like say… Friends? **Allies**?" A window popped up and Ruby cheered quietly, not wanting to interrupt her sister.

 **Allies:**

 **Yang Xiao Long: x1.5 EXP increase to STR training and to all Martial skills and weapons.**

"Neat!"

"What's neat sis?" Yang appeared behind Ruby again, causing her to yelp loudly.

"Yang! How do you even do that?!" Ruby was somewhat pissed at Yang for being able to sneak up on her.

"I dunno! I just do it! But answer my question!"

Ruby sighed. "Well, it says here that I get an x1.5 bonus EXP whenever I train with STR and Martial skills whenever you're partied with me. I think you get a bonus to something too, but I don't know what it would be."

Yang pumped her fists in the air, then grabbed Ruby's wrist and dragged them back to their house. "Training starts as soon as we get home!"

"B-But Yang! Aren't we doing this to quickly?" Ruby yelled at her sister, yet it fell on deaf ears.

"Nope!" Yang just kept smiling as she dragged her sister home. "No such thing as going to fast Ruby! Besides! The stronger we get, the cooler we look at our schools! Plus I have an excuse to spend some time with you before I leave for Beacon!"

"Oh… right…" Ruby stopped struggling at the thought of not seeing her sister for an entire year.

Yang seemed to notice. "Aw, cheer up sis! I'll be back before you know it! For now though, we need to get as strong as possible!"

* * *

Ruby gawked at the amount of stuff that they had in the basement. Well, more specifically, training stuff. It was an actual gym! Like, a professional gym! "How have I not noticed this before?!"

Yang smirked. "Because you aren't allowed down here. Neither of us are!" She walked over to the weights and then patted the bench press. "I usually use this thing, but I have a feeling. What you'll work with are these giant elastic band things! The more you hook onto yourself, the harder it is to get away! I think that it'll be good for you!"

Ruby was already running on a treadmill. "What did you say Yang?"

Yang sighed and pulled Ruby off of it. "Pay attention! So, you can either use these elastic things, or… you can use what I use when I run!" She walked over to a box and pulled out these strip… things. "Ankle weights!" She threw them over to Ruby, who caught them with her face.

 **HP: 355/375**

"Ow… Yang… You could've just given them to me!" Ruby took the weights off of her face and **Observed** them.

 **Light Ankle Weights**

 **Simple weights that assist in training. Both weigh about 50 lbs(22.68 kg) each.**

 **Minor increase to the rate of Physical stat gain**

 **\- 2 DEX when equipped until STR 25**

"You sure that these are safe?" Ruby asked Yang as she strapped the weights to her ankles, where they belong. She began to walk awkwardly over to her sister, trying to get used to the weights.

Yang shrugged. "I dunno. Probably. I never questioned it! But… wait, do you know how to turn on your Aura yet sis?"

Ruby nodded. "Of course I know! I think."

Yang groaned with a smile. "Okay, first thing's first. You know that rush of power that happened when you used your Semblance?"

Ruby nodded again, silently this time.

"Close your eyes and look for that. It should be more hidden, but… yeah. If you can't bring out your aura, then you can't really fight effectively. Or fight in tournaments. I thought that they taught you how to do that in Signal! It's first year stuff!"

Ruby chuckled. "W-Well, remember how I was really sick…? I miiight have been gone for that day." She then closed her eyes and felt **[Gamer's Mind]** activate as she searched for that feeling. She quickly found it with assistance from her ability, and felt it come forth, a blood red glow surrounding her.

 **For it is in passing, that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release thine soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.**

 **You have gained the skill [Aura]!**

 **Aura** **(Passive/Active): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%: Cost: 1 AP per second: Aura. All hunters have one, and now, you have yours.**

 **+1% passive bonus to all physical stats (+2% when active)**

 **Passively shifts damage to AP until AP is depleted**

 **Allows for usage of your Semblance at will**

 **Unlocks Semblance progression**

 **Allows you to train AP without raising stats**

Ruby felt that slight rush of power, before it died down almost entirely. "Like that?"

Yang just stared at Ruby. "T-That… shouldn't have been possible… oh well! Did you get a skill for it?"

Ruby nodded. "It's just called **[Aura]**. It's kinda useless right now, but it lets me train my Semblance and use it at will!"

Yang smirked. "Show me then."

Ruby nodded and closed her eyes. She took a step forward and rose petals began to come off of her cloak.

 **Semblance: [Flowing Petals] has activated!**

Ruby pulled up her status page and watched as her AP ticked down very quickly. She walked over to Yang very slowly, just watching her power. When she stopped walking and stood in front of Yang, the petals just kept coming off of the cloak.

Yang nodded softly, then threw a very projected punch at Ruby.

Ruby's eyes widened, but she seemed to flow around the punch and counter it with a punch to Yang's spine. She then gasped slightly. "Yang, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean t-" She then flowed out of the way of a roundhouse kick and gained some distance from Yang. "What are you doing?!"

Yang grinned as she unleashed her shot gauntlets and stepped into a fighting stance. "Training! I told you that it starts as soon as we got home! Now that you can do this, we can fight!" She rushed Ruby and threw another punch at her, this time, utilizing her weapon and firing a fire shot at her.

Ruby's eyes widened as she went to roll out of the way, but instead was shot to the other side of the room by her Semblance. "You're going to get us in trouble!"

Yang laughed. "This is a room for training Hunters! You think some Grade 1 Fire Dust explosions are going to do anything? Pay attention!" Yang rushed towards Ruby again, this time going to attack with her left arm.

Ruby saw this and quickly flowed to the right, and then tried to counter again with a kick to the ribs this time. She hit Yang, but didn't pull her leg back fast enough to get away from Yang grabbing her ankle. "Uh oh." She yelped as she was thrown into the air by her sister and and saw her jump up to hit Ruby hard. Though, Ruby flinched and was able to flow out of the way of the attack again, tumbling to the side of the room. She panted heavily as she watched the rose petals stop appearing. She glanced at her AP

 **AP: 18/500**

Ruby groaned as she slowly stood and then felt **[Gamer's Mind]** kick in. Her face became drained of all emotion, and she walked slowly over to Yang.

Yang had never seen this side of Ruby before, so she was a bit frightened. "Umm… Ruby? You okay?" She walked over to Ruby and then waved a hand in front of her face. "That other thing of yours isn't messing with you, is it?"

Ruby smirked and stomped on Yang's foot, then hit her it the stomach as hard as she could, and then hit her sister in the face with her knee. She saw Yang get sent reeling back, then covered her mouth as the skill turned off abruptly. "S-Sorry! I don't know what came over… me…" She stopped in the middle of her apology when she heard Yang laughing. "…Yang?"

Yang looked up at Ruby with a smile on her face. "That's it! That's good! That means that you can fight without Crescent Rose or your Semblance! Okay!" Yang twisted her wrists a bit to make her weapons become her bracelets again. "I'm not a very good teacher, but maybe you can get a martial arts skill book or something!" She threw another punch at Ruby, who leaned out of the way of it. "Must be that high DEX of yours helping your reflexes. Man… if I could've used this to get faster, then I would've beaten you in so many video games."

Ruby chuckled and patted Yang on the back. "Still a sore spot for you huh sis? Oh well! We'll probably work that DEX up real quick!"

Yang sighed and nodded. "Welp! I'm gonna get to running! As fast as I can right?"

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno! Just… try stuff!"

Yang grinned and gave Ruby a thumbs up as she walked over to the treadmills and turned up the speed to half way. Keep in mind, that these are VERY fast treadmills, so when Yang tried to run on it, she was immediately sent flying off of it. She chuckled sheepishly as she dusted herself off. "Maybe a little slower."

* * *

Ruby groaned in her sleep. She didn't have her sleep mask on, as she couldn't find it, and really couldn't be bothered to find it after their training. Though, she was already having a nightmare.

 _Ruby was sitting in the middle of the piles of bodies from the Grimm. She barely even glanced at them before they all began to scatter into rose petals. As she stood, more rose petals filled the air. She slowly walked towards a stone pillars and saw five figures standing on them. Though they were much too far away to tell who they were. As she was about to rush forward, she gasped as she felt someone grip her ankle. She looked down to see Yang. Most of her. She was missing an arm, but that was it. She was bleeding profusely._

" _R-Ruby… don't…"_

Ruby yelled as she shot up, panting heavily from her nightmare. There were three window in front of her face.

 **You have slept in your own bed!**

 **100% HP, MP, and AP recovered! All negative status effects have been removed!**

 **Your power has been updated!**

 **Trait: [Silver Eyes] has been altered**

 **Semblance: [Flowing Petals] has been altered**

 **Gamer Ability has been fully integrated into your soul! You may now access parts of it that you may not have been able to before!**

"Wait, what do you mean by 'altered'?" Ruby quickly checked her status page.

 **Name: Ruby Rose**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Semblance: Flowing Petals (Stage 1)**

 **LV: 15 Next Level: 37.65%**

 **HP: 500/500 (Regen: 10)**

 **MP: 0/0 (Regen: 5)**

 **AP: 625/625 (Regen 15(10+5)**

 **STR: 18(18.18)**

 **VIT: 20(20.20)**

 **DEX: 26(26.26)**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 5**

 **LUK: 5**

 **Lien: 1800**

 **Stat Points: 0**

 **Traits:**

 **Silver Eyes (Stage 1): Minimal [Fear] status inflicted on minor Grimm, 5% chance for a premonition of the future**

Ruby sighed when she saw that her **[Silver Eyes]** trait had become much less useful then before. Though, the premonition thing was new. "Wait, now's my chance to check my Semblance!" She tapped her Semblance and a thorny window popped up. "Weird."

 **Flowing Petals (Stage 1):**

 **This semblance is currently in its beginning stages of development. Currently, while activated, it boosts the user's speed and reaction time by 50% at the cost of 5 AP per second. And while this power seems to be all beauty, beware of its thorns.**

 **?**

"Huh… hey… could it mean that Grimm that turned into petals?" Ruby stared at her window, then watched as the question marks were deleted, and were replaced by a new description.

 **Scatters those killed by the user while using this Semblance into nothingness, leaving nothing behind.**

"Woah… that's kinda scary. But… my silver eyes. How do I level those?" Ruby asked her power, seeing as it gave her info on her Semblance. As she thought, a window popped up.

 **The same way everything does. Repetition!**

Ruby sighed. "Thought so… so there's no easy way to advance that, huh…?" She then shrugged. "Oh well. At least I have Yang to help me fight any Grimm nearby. So, how do I increase my AP?"

 **That would be telling~**

Ruby groaned quietly. "Well, it wouldn't be a skill if it was easy. Okay. I'll play along." She then smiled as a quest popped up.

 **That's the spirit!**

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **Gaging your Aura**

 **Main Objective 1: Find a way to increase your maximum AP without stat increases!**

 **Main Objective 2: Raise your max AP to 750 in one week.**

 **Side Objective: Raise your max AP to 1000 in one week.**

 **Main Rewards: Assistance with unlocking your Mana**

 **Side reward: 2000 EXP**

 **Failure: Increased difficulty in unlocking your Mana**

 **Do you accept this quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Ruby just tapped the **YES** button, and then chuckled as she heard Yang snoring softly. She stood and walked over to Yang, just to close her mouth. She then quietly opened the door and sneaked out of the room. She tried to sneak downstairs to get a cookie, because she wanted one, but she then saw her dad staring at a picture of her mother, Summer Rose. Ruby stopped trying to sneak and walked over to Tai Yang. "Are you… Are you thinking about mom again?"

Tai Yang seemed surprised at Ruby's appearance, but didn't show it that much as he sighed and set the picture of Summer down. "Go back to bed Ruby. A growing girl like you needs her rest."

Ruby chuckled. "And a teacher needs rest to deal with kids during the day."

Tai Yang sighed with a smile. "Yes, but that won't be for another few weeks. You also had quite the day today." He turned his head to the right and stared into Ruby's eyes. "I noticed the burn marks in the basement. You might not be able to break anything in there just yet, but please clean up in there. It's hard to keep everything clean if you girls are scorching everything."

Ruby let out a small 'eep', then chuckled nervously. "Y-Yeah, sure. Yang and I will clean up after ourselves dad." She then sighed a bit. "Umm… I know that it's late and all dad, but… do you know how to increase your aura without training your body…? O-Or your mind? Yang and I are curious, and you know… could save our lives one day."

Tai Yang sighed again as he stood, holding the picture of Summer again and setting it back onto the shelf with all of the family photos. "You're right. It's late. But… as long as you don't do anything dangerous. Though it's a little exhausting. You think that you two can handle it?"

Ruby smiled with a nod. "I know we can!"

Tai Yang smiled gently. "Okay. I'll tell you how to do it. But you have to promise me not to use this as an excuse to not do homework or to study, okay?"

"Okay dad, I promise! You don't have to worry!"

Tai Yang sighed. "I don't know why you're asking if only Yang can use Aura-"

"Oh! Right! Yang awakened my Aura today. Well, helped to. I kinda did most of it on my own." Ruby chuckled nervously again. "Honestly, I don't know why I didn't ask either you or her before. But… how do we get more of it?"

Tai Yang smiled. "Well, getting right down to business. As you know, your Aura is a projection of your soul, and it exhausts you when you run out of it. That's because by then you are using your own energy to fuel your Aura, and not your soul. I'm not saying to drain your Aura, but actually, the opposite. What you need to do is feed energy to your soul so it can produce more Aura. Now, most of it is temporary, but a small bit of it sticks. For it to have any lasting effect that means anything, you'll have to do it for at least an hour or two." He then sighed. "Summer taught me that. And, to do this, you have to be sitting still."

Ruby hummed a bit. "So… it's like sleeping, only you're improving yourself instead of taking a break?"

Tai Yang laughed at that. "Yes. Exactly like that. R- A friend said that it was close to meditating. Remember how Qrow tried to teach you that and you couldn't stop squirming?"

Ruby chuckled at that memory. She was five. She didn't know what her uncle was thinking, trying to get her to meditate like that. "Yeah. But I think I can pull it off now. I just have to not move, right? Easy." She hugged Tai Yang closely. "Thanks dad!" She then ran upstairs back into her room.

Tai Yang glanced at Summer's picture again. "…She's just like you, you know that?"

Back with Ruby, she was getting dressed in her battle skirt and cloak, and then jumped out the window and rolled on the grass. "Sorry Yang, but I can't sit still with you snoring like that." She walked off into the forest, not straying to far from her house, but far enough to where she thought that her dad wouldn't be able to sense her. Ruby then sat down and then took a deep breath. " **[Aura]** " A blood red glow began to surround Ruby, before it faded. She checked her AP and saw that it was ticking down. "Okay. You can do this Ruby. Just close your eyes, and focus on… your soul…? Moving energy? Dad wasn't clear on that." She groaned, a little annoyed that she didn't ask for specifics. "Alright… what did Dad say… he said that it was like meditating, so all I have to do is sit up, clear my head, and focus on something. It should be moving energy into my soul.

 **[Aura] has gained a level!**

"Woah! That felt weird!" Ruby quickly checked her **[Aura]** skill and saw that the stat bonuses had changed. They doubled. It was still just 2%, but progress is progress. "Cool! I mean, I'm not that much stronger, but I could kinda feel the change." SHe turned off that skill and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. "Okay… focus… on… energy… to soul…" As **[Gamer's Mind]** activated, she could suddenly picture veins of energy flowing through her body, kinda like coils, but… also not. She pictured redirecting the flow of energy from around her entire body to her soul, and once she felt that, she winced in pain, but quickly got used to the feeling. She also felt her Aura completely charge and stretch slightly past that. It didn't happen as her father said, but it still worked. By the time she ran out of energy, she was panting heavily, then checked her AP

 **AP: 635/635**

"This… will take a while."

* * *

Ruby gasped for air as she recovered the slightest amount of energy. ' _Dear Oum that hurts so much!'_ Apparently, running out of energy multiple times in the span of a few hours hurt a lot! Something that her dad neglected to tell her! Though, even through all of the pain, she didn't lose a single point in anything. And it took her all night, but she had finally gotten her AP up decently.

 **AP: 680/680**

It was nowhere near as fast progressing and painless as she was hoping, but it worked, so she didn't complain. She stood shakily and leaned against a tree. "Great… now I need a skill that lets me recover energy…And no quest for it right now please. I can't… I just can't." Ruby felt more of her energy come back and she began to walk back to her house. She had a headache from the multiple cases of exhaustion, but if it helped her with AP, she would use it. "…I wonder if VIT also gives me more energy…" Ruby walked in through the front door, stumbled up the stairs, and then flopped into her bed. "Gotta keep at it… Need to get my numbers higher…"

Yang suddenly dropped from the ceiling. "Which numbers sis?"

Ruby didn't have the energy to be frightened. "My AP… dad told me how to get more Aura, so I'm using it. But if you want it to be effective, you have to go through a lot of pain… it's almost ridiculous at how much you go through."

"Really? What's your AP at now? And what was it before?" Yang sat down on the bed, patting Ruby's head as gently as she could, which was still fairly hard.

Ruby pulled the blankets over her. "Well, it WAS at 625, and now it's at 680. But I got a quest to get it up to at least 750 by the end of the week… and I get a bonus if I get it up to 1000."

Yang hummed a bit. "Okay. I'll head into Vale today and pick up some books. I want to test something. I'll pick up some skill books while I'm there though, so I'll be back soon, just rest up, okay?"

Ruby nodded. "Thanks sis…" She smiled and hugged Yang softly before she just laid there.

Yang smiled, which soon shifted into a smirk as she put on sunglasses. She chuckled and jumped out the same window, then grabbed Bumblebee and rode into Vale.

After half an hour had passed, Ruby was up and raring to go. She stretched a bit from reflex and then quickly headed downstairs and into the gym. She just ran until Yang came back. Her STR increased again by one from the weights, but that was it. ' _Oh well. A point is a point.'_

Yang walked into the gym with a huge bag of books and then dropped them on the ground. "Here we go! Right here is prime INT training!"

"S-Studying…? You couldn't find any other way to increase that one…?"

Yang sighed. "I know. But we're gonna have to endure it if we want to get stronger. Trust me, if there was any other way to do this, I would take it in a heartbeat, but since there isn't…On the plus side, I got us this dice game!" Yang rummaged through the bag o' books until she found the packet of dice. "Well, just dice, but I figure that we can make a game out of it! And now that we can hunt for money, we can actually bet!" Yang had stars in her eyes at the thought of real gambling with her sister.

Ruby blinked and then carefully took the dice from Yang. "Why'd you get these anyways?"

Yang smiled. "Because dice games are based on luck. Well, most of the time. But usually they're all about luck! So what better way to train that stat the gamble!" She then grinned as she began to bounce on the bed. "Plus it's so fun!"

Ruby then grabbed one of the books and a window popped up right above it.

 **You have obtained the skill book: Martial Arts for Dummies!**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Ruby pushed the yes button and the book scattered into rose petals this time and wrapped around her frame before flashing white and disappearing. "That was different then the last one? Why?"

 **As your power hadn't fully settled into you, we had to borrow the animation from one of the previous gamers. We picked the one that was more awesome. And now you have your own!**

 **You have gained the skill: [Basic Martial Arts]**

 **Basic Martial Arts** **:(Passive/Active): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%:**

 **The art of letting your fists do your talking.**

 **+5% to all unarmed damage**

 **+5% to all martial damage**

"I think I need to punch things to get better at this." Ruby flexed her hand a bit and then threw a straight punch in the air. "It's really weird though. It's like I know all of these things now. Not much but, I know how hard to hit if I want to hurt someone, and just how to punch and kick correctly. I think I'll learn more as the skill gets better."

Yang smirked as she grabbed a skill book for herself. When she accepted, it burst into blue flames and shattered into shards before slamming into her chest.

Ruby looked over at Yang. "Which skill was that?"

Yang shrugged. "Just **[Survival]**. Figured that it would be good to have." She then pulled out a book and started reading it. After a few minutes in silence, she groaned loudly. "This is so boring…"

Ruby was reading as well. Though, in her case, she had actually gotten a good book for herself. 'The Evolution of Weapon Development in Remnant'. She was actually surprised that she didn't get a skill for it. "Yeah, but it's for our INT training, so I think that we just have to grin and bear it."

 **For making a wise decision about your training, you have gained + 1 WIS!**

' _Maybe I should train my_ _ **[Aura]**_ _skill while I'm at it… It should help.'_ Ruby then silently activated her **[Aura]** skill and read with that on.

 **As a reward for you diligent studies, you have gained +1 INT**

As Ruby read through the book, memorizing every passage, she had gained 2 more points in INT. "Well, I won't fail the quest now, but I want that bonus!" She closed the book and then began to pant softly as her AP ran out.

 **[Aura] has gained a level!**

Yang looked at Ruby and smiled. "You just got a level in **[Aura]**? Neat! I think that we should get to the fun training!" She tore open the pack of dice and rolled them all. They all landed fairly high. "Oh! I got a point in my LUK!" Yang smirked and placed a three 500 Lien cards on the floor. "Place your bets Sis!"

Ruby sighed and extracted one 1000 Lien card and one 500 Lien card and placed those on top of Yang's bet. "Fine. If you want to play, then let's play."

* * *

Ruby was pouting as she ran. She had lost three times to her sister somehow. Well, she won the first time, but lost the remaining three times. Which caused her to lose almost all of her money. She would have to go hunting with Yang in a bit.

Yang chuckled as she used the bench press. "Oh don't feel bad sis!" She breathed out slowly as she raised the 150 lbs weighted bar above her head. That would be her 30th rep. She set the bar onto the holding thing where it went and then sighed as she stood. "You can't beat someone with a **[Gambling]** skill of thirty!"

Ruby looked back at Yang with a shocked expression. "Yang! You didn't tell me that you had that!"

Yang waved her hand dismissively. "Details! Besides, your LUK went up to ten right?"

"Eight. Why did you assume that I got up to ten?" Ruby hopped off of the treadmill as soon as she got another STR point.

Yang put her bracelets onto her wrists and then shrugged. "You had some good rolls. I was just better."

Ruby nodded as she stared at the bracelets.

Yang glanced at Ruby's face, then hid her wrists. "You trying to scan my Ember Celica? To bad! All you get to know is that they're awesome!"

Ruby sighed as she took off the weights and tossed them into her Inventory. "Well, because of that, I'm out of money. Which mea-"

Yang laughed almost evilly. "Which means that we get to punch Grimm in their faces!" She unleashed Ember Celica and then grabbed Ruby by the hood as she ran towards the forest. By the time Ruby caught her breath to protest, they were deep in the forest, near Grimm territory. She skidded to a halt and dropped Ruby, already getting fired up. "Alright! Where are they?!"

Ruby panted on the ground and then reached for her Inventory to pull out Crescent Rose. "Yang… please… warn me next time…" She then sighed as she stood and shifted Crescent Rose into its scythe form. "But do you think that we're close enough to attract Grimm?" Ruby dusted herself off and then looked around.

Yang smirked and then began to whistle loudly to bring Grimm to them. It took a while, but they finally heard some growling. "Ugh. FINALLY! My throat was getting dry!" She listened for where the Grimm would be, then rushed towards the source of the growling and reached into the bushes to drag out a Beowolf. It howled and then Yange executed it by blowing its head off. "Woo! Here they come sis!"

Ruby's face went dead as she looked around, seeing red glowing eyes coming from all the dark corners of the forest.

 **Trait: [Silver Eyes] has activated**

She saw all of the eyes widen and then a loud howl rang out from the pack. Ruby close her eyes and then rushed towards one of the sets of eyes, her new strength showing as she launched the Beowolf into the air. She used her weapon to propel her into the air and she sliced at it, really stabbing it in the chest. She flipped around on the handle of Crescent Rose and then turned the scythe to where the end of the barrel was facing the head of the Grimm, and as she pulled the trigger, the two landed on the ground, black smoke bursting from the corpse of the Grimm. She spun her scythe in the air a bit before staring down another Grimm. Said Grimm burst out of the bushes and pounced at Ruby, but was thrown into a tree from a fire bullet hitting it in the side.

Yang grinned as she rushed towards the one she just attacked and punched it in the chest repeatedly, blowing a hole into it. She then jumped back and grappled with one of them for a minute before throwing it to the ground and kicking it into a tree. She went to finish it, but Ruby shot it in the eye with her rifle. "I had that!"

Ruby fired into the tree above Yang, knocking a Beowolf out of the tree. Yang looked up and then cocked her fist back to hit the Grimm as hard as she could towards Ruby. Ruby quickly changed weapon forms and ducked under the now flying Grimm, hooking it with the blade of her scythe and pulling the trigger of her rifle, cutting through the Beowolf, and hitting two others with the dissolving halves of the Grimm.

"Nice job sis!" Yang jumped into the tree and then fired into the tree behind Ruby, causing another Grimm to jump out. "Head's up!"

Ruby barely glanced behind her as she fired a bullet into the head of the Grimm wolf, using the recoil to launch herself towards another one and pulled the trigger of her weapon again, slicing the Grimm in two. She jumped back to where she was, Yang joining her as they watched the rest of the pack come out, about twenty of them.

"Hit me as hard as you can Ruby!" Yang braced herself for some reason.

Ruby simply nodded and spun in place to get momentum for her swing, then fired her weapon again, hitting Yang in the back with the blunted part of Crescent Rose.

Yang's back arched from the pain, and then she grinned as her hair began to glow. She quickly recovered and then pounded her fistst together, a quick burst of flames shooting her hair up in the air.

Ruby smiled and then turned her Semblance on.

 **Semblance: [Flowing Petals] has activated!**

She took a deep breath, then rushed towards a small group of Grimm and hooked one of them with her scythe, then pulled the trigger, decapitating two of them and dragging a third one down with her. She spun around and shot the downed Grimm in where its temple should be, then jumped into the trees to slice through the branches to cut down the Grimm that were standing on them.

Yang grinned as she punched one of the falling Grimm so hard that their bone armor cracked, making it fly into another Grimm, killing that one as well. She laughed as she kicked another one into a tree hard enough to make said tree topple, impaling it on a branch.

Ruby drop kicked a Grimm of off a branch, then used her scythe to spin around and land on the same branch as she shifted her weapon into a rifle. She fired at al the Grimm until she heard a clicking. She smirked and then ejected the now empty clip and replaced it with one that had crosshairs on it. She shifted her weapon again and shot towards a Grimm that was about to attack Yang, slicing it in two. She then twisted her wrist to make the blade of the scythe shoot forward, becoming almost a polearm. Ruby kicked off of the ground and fired a few shots to make her go faster, then spun rapidly like in her dream, slicing through the Grimm that were in her path. Her Semblance dropped and Ruby panted heavily.

Yang was holding a Beowolf by the throat and punching it without shooting it. "Hah! This is fun!"

"Yang! Come on!"

Yang sighed. "Fiiiine!" She hit the Grimm as her eyes briefly flashed red, actually blowing up the head of the Grimm. "Ugh… it got everywhere." She dropped the dissolving corpse and walked around collecting the Lien. Once she did that, she handed all the cards to Ruby. "Here you go sis!"

 **Battle log:**

 **[Aura] has gained a level!**

 **[Rifle Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Scythe Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **You and your party have gained 4550 EXP**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have obtained 5000 Lien!**

Ruby pocketed the Lien into her Inventory, then pulled out 2500. "Here you go sis. You probably spent the money you got too."

Yang shrugged and actually pocketed hers in her breasts… for some reason. "Thanks! I can go into town and bribe a bouncer to let me into a club!"

Ruby groaned as **[Gamer's Mind]** turned off. "Yang… please tell me that you aren't going to bribe a bouncer."

"Okay. I won't tell you." Yang smirked and began to walk towards the house.

Ruby groaned louder as she followed her sister kinda disappointed in her. "Yang… just don't drink. I don't want to find out what you're like drunk."

"You sound like dad! Don't worry! I won't drink! …Much!" Yang ran off laughing.

"YANG!" Ruby chased after Yang, easily catching up to and tackling her.

Yang was still laughing.

* * *

Ruby was humming as she read more about weapons. She hasn't gotten an INT point yet, but she was sure that it was bound to happen.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we're closing up now." An old man tapped Ruby's shoulder gently.

Ruby looked back at the old man with a smile. "Okay. I'll come back tomorrow to see if I'm allowed to buy some dust ammo, but for now…" She grabbed a book on using dust.

 **You have gained the skill book: Dust Manipulation**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES/NO]**

' _Not right now.'_ The window disappeared. "I'll take this one!"

The old man nodded with a smile and rang up the book, the cost of it being 25 Lien, which Ruby easily paid for. "Thank you! Please come again!"

Ruby waved at the old man as she left, then, once she was out of the store, she threw it into her Inventory and saw some of Yang's Aura go down in the left part of her vision. "Oh no…" She looked on her map and then saw a yellow circle with a black heart that was on fire pretty nearby. She ran towards it and saw a crowd of people running from 'Junior's Club'. "Great." Ruby just stood there, waiting, knowing that her sister was fine, as she was constantly checking her AP. When it got to half, she was about to go into the club, when a loud explosion broke all of the glass and sent a large man flying out of the second floor. She then saw Yang jump out of the window, presumably to finish the man off. She didn't even bother checking the title. "Yang…?"

Yang looked up at Ruby, her eyes red. She blinked once and her eyes became lavender again. "Oh! Hey sis!"

Ruby glared at her sister. "What are you doing here?! When you said that you would bribe a bouncer, I didn't think that you meant that you would bribe him on the same day!"

Yang looked like she was going to make an excuse, but then sighed. "It's a long story. I'll tell you tomorrow."

Ruby sighed as well. "Fine… but you owe me some cookies for making me wait!"

Yang flinched. "O-On second thought, let's go get something to drink! I'll tell you there!" She grabbed Ruby by the hood and dragged her to an outdoor cafe. Lucky for her, they got a cute boy as a server. "Hello there~ She'll have some hot chocolate and I'll have a Strawberry Sunrise, neat. Will that be a problem~?" She propped her breasts up to persuade the boy to nod and get her drink. "Okay, now that he's gone… you know my mom, Raven Branwen? Qrow's sister?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nope. Well, just her name. And what she looks like."

Yang nodded. "Well, I was looking for information, threatened the owner of that club by literally holding him by the balls and almost crushing them, but I got nothing. So a fight broke out, I won, and then you showed up. That's it." Her drink was set in front of her, along with Ruby's. "Thank you~!" She waited for the boy to walk away again, then sighed. "If you want details, I'm not drunk enough, and barely shielded enough. So… please don't tell dad."

Ruby sighed and then looked around, a bit paranoid now. "Sure, but… you know how you always feel like you're being watched?" She closed her eyes to calm herself. "Well, depending on Raven's Semblance, couldn't she be watching you?"

Yang sipped at her drink, then shrugged. "Maybe, but if she has, then she either doesn't care, or she's waiting for something. Something that's more important then her own daughter." She then downed the drink in one gulp and then slammed the glass down onto the table. "I want to have some fun tonight! Forget all of this other crap, let's have fun!" She quickly paid for the drinks and dragged Ruby to her bike. "Ready?"

"N-

"Too bad!" She pulled Ruby onto her bike and then took off towards a beach that she knew was closed at the time. Didn't stop her from going though. "Yes! We're the only ones here!" Yang then heard whooping in the distance. "Guess not…"

 **!QUEST ALERT!  
Faunus Massacre**

 **Main Objective: Save the group of Faunus on the beach from death**

 **Reward: Increased standing with all Faunus**

 **Failure: White Fang grow more violent**

 **Do you accept this quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

"Yang. Just got a quest." Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from her holstered spot on her dress and looked over at where the group of Fauns were. There was one who had brown rabbit ears, and as Ruby walked closer she saw a name and a title.

 **Copycat Bunny**

 **Velvet Scarlatina**

 **LV: 40**

Yang saw Ruby's expression change. "What're the details?"

"Save a group of Faunus from being slaughtered. Judging from her level, I think that the girl with rabbit ears would be the only survivor." Ruby walked towards the group keeping her eyes out for any sign of trouble, with a smile on her face.

"Guys, we're going to get caught!" Velvet gazed at her two friends. One was a wolf faunus, and another was a white tiger faunus.

The male tiger faunus laughed, maybe a bit drunk. "Velvet! Lighten up! We aren't going to get caught! Besides! We're having fun right?"

Velvet shook her head. "No. You two are having fun. Coco will kill me if she finds out that I've been hanging out with you two again. Rome, you don't think that we should be out here right now, right?"

The male wolf faunus, Rome, shrugged. "I… really don't have anything to say to that, sorry Velvet."

Velvet groaned. "Fine. We… We can stay out for a little longer."

The tiger faunus laughed happily. "Alright! That's the spirit Velvet!"

Yang looked towards the street and saw a black car with tinted windows pull up and saw people wearing all black with pure black motorcycle helmets come out with what looked like cheap guns. "Ruby, look to the left."

Ruby did and saw the group of people walking towards Velvet's group.

 **Semblance: [Flowing Petals] has activated!**

"That's getting kind of annoying!" She rushed over to stand in between the groups before either one of them could do anything.

One of the people in black helmets cocked his pistol and pointed it at the tiger faunus's head. "Hey animal."

The group turned to look at the man and just as he fired off the bullet that would kill the tiger, Ruby dashed in and blocked the bullet with Crescent Rose. The man flinched under her gaze. It was one that looked like she had no qualms with killing him.

Yang chuckled as she walked over. "Ya know, maybe trying to kill a group with a Huntress in it wasn't the best idea. Especially if there are two more around!" She then rushed the guy and hit him in the stomach, burning through his clothes and giving him first degree burns in an instant. The only things Grade 1 Burn shells were good for is the explosion when it gets fired off. So the guy wasn't _too_ hurt, give or take a few limbs. Mostly take.

Ruby rushed towards another one and sliced their gun in two. "Trust me. You really don't want to deal with this right now. You're either drunk or insane. So go home before this gets any worse."

Yang didn't even bother talking when she took down the third person by shattering their kneecaps. She was still smiling.

Velvet watched the two in slight awe, mostly because they bothered to save them.

Ruby looked back at Velvet for a split second as she fired off a shot and sliced through the engine of the car. "I said go home. And yeah, I really mean 'run before I slice you to ribbons'."

That seemed to get the attention of the rest of the group of six as the ones that could run ran away as fast as they could.

Ruby sighed as she folded up Crescent Rose. "It's so hard to be scary Yang. How do you do it all the time?"

"Do what?" She kicked the guy whose knees were just broken in the knees.

"Oh. That's how." Ruby sighed again and walked over to Velvet. "Hi! I'm Ruby Rose, and the scary one if my sister Yang!"

"Hey!" She glanced back at the group with a smile as she kicked the guy in the stomach.

Velvet just looked at Ruby. "Um… Are you going to Beacon Academy this year?"

Ruby shook her head. "No. Yang is though! I'm going back to Signal."

Rome was about to say something when the tiger groaned. "So a little girl in red let her sister do all the work while sh-" He was shut up by Rome.

"Hain, we talked about being a dick to humans!"

Hain tore Rome off of him. "Oh so what?! It's not like she can do anything!"

Ruby sighed. "You know I didn't have to block that bullet."

Velvet smiled. "Well, I'll thank you on his behalf Ruby, seeing as he can't see past your appearance. But I need to go back home and pack. You… sure that you're not going to Beacon? Most of the people in there aren't as fast as you, and no one knows how to wield a scythe."

Ruby chuckled sheepishly. "Well, my uncle Qrow taught me how to use one, but definitely sure. Sadly…"

Velvet looked disappointed for a moment, then smiled. "Then do you mind if I can get a picture?" She pulled a camera out of the bag on her side.

Ruby smiled, then looked nervous. "Do I have to pose?"

Velvet instantly blushed. "N-No, you don't ha- o-oh! With your weapon? I-If you don't mind."

Ruby sighed in relief. "Good. I thought that I would have to do it without her." She unfolded Crescent Rose one last time for the night and slammed the end of it into the ground. Just as she did that, Velvet took her picture.

"Thank you so much, and I would tell you why I asked, but then that would be giving hints about… something my leader asked me not to talk about." Velvet sighed slightly and looked over at Rome and Hein. "I'm going home." She then ran off, leaving behind her friends.

Ruby wondered why the quest was so easy if they were going to be slaughtered, and then saw that Rome and Hain were only level 5. She then cleared her throat. "Yeah, Yang and I should be going home too. She has to pack." She walked away from the two faunus boys, and glanced back at Yang as she cut off her Semblance. "Yang! Let's go! You need to pack!"

Yang groaned loudly and then ran over to Ruby. "Fine! Ruin my fun!"

* * *

 **Okay! I'm done! Can I ask my question now?**

 **Glynda: *sighs* Go ahead.**

 **Why do you use a riding crop as a weapon?**

 **Glynda: …..**

 **Ozpin: She doesn't like talking about it. She says it's personal to anyone who asks.**

 **So it was a sex th- *gets thrown out of the room with magic***


	3. Welcome to Beacon

**Jesus… these guys keep breaking my house. Hi everyone, and welcome to 'The Rose Gamer'... I think I made a mistake…**

 **Nora: PANCAKES!**

 **Ugh… I'm just glad that Ren is here to keep her calm. Anyways, I fixed the wall that Glynda sent me through, and I still have thoughts about RWBY stuck in my head, so here's a new chapter. I'll respond to new reviews, then just get on with the chapter, as I don't think I can keep my focus for much longer after that.**

 **Ren: Nora! Calm down! This isn't our house!**

 **Nora: But Ren! Pancakes!**

 **Ugh…**

 **Saint of Vice Koncor: It's been a while, but I have read that one, and I enjoyed it a lot… I just wish that I could remember the name of it.**

 **Emiliano733: Thank you, and I felt like that I needed to develop the bond between her and Tai Yang early, as he won't really come back until the school breaks.**

 **Blarg7865: Yeah… I… won't be having her back here when I have that stuff around. And I won't have a poll up just yet, because right now, even with Gamer's Mind, she is far to innocent to be in a relationship. For Torchwick, you'll just have to read ahead, and Zwei's is pretty high, seeing as he's a Hunter dog. Oh. The Grimm pet. It sounds interesting, but seeing as the Grimm kill anything with Aura and are born fully grown from pools of sludge, I don't really see how that would work. Sorry...**

 **Flamey9371: I'm glad to see that you like it! Though, I'm not sure that the Scarlet Rose ship will sail all that well. The Crosshares one would work a little better, but I'm not sure which ships to let sail in this one besides BumbleBY.**

* * *

"Speech"

'Scroll Message'

' _Thought'_

 **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

A man with short black hair was sitting in a bar, sunlight slowly beginning to come in through the window. He wore a white trench coat and had a sword leaning next to his stool. He downed his drink and sighed. He was about to ask for a refill, when he heard the door open. "Heh. I was wondering when you'd show up Oz."

A man with purely white hair walked into the bar. He wore a black suit with a green shirt, and held a cane in his right hand. He sat down next to the black haired man and looked up at the bartender. "Could I have a coffee?" When he got a nod in response, he looked over at his companion. "Qrow, I realize that the situation is escalating, bu-"

"I didn't call you here for that." Qrow downed his refilled drink, then sighed as he looked at the man. "It's about Ruby."

"Oh?" The man set his cane down and suddenly looked serious. "Tell me more."

Qrow held his head and then groaned. "She's learning how to use her eyes, Ozpin. And she's been training a lot with Yang, and they're both improving much faster then I've ever seen before. Well, for them."

Ozpin thanked the bartender and sipped at his coffee. "I don't see the problem in that. A girl, simply finding out how to hone her powers. I-"

"She's hunting Grimm Oz!" Qrow glared at Ozpin as the bartender refilled his drink.

Ozpin looked shocked for a moment, before sipping at his coffee. "Well, that _is_ cause for concern… but I think that she knows what she's doing. Is she going hunting alone?"

Qrow shook his head. "No. Yang's going with her, but they're taking on entire packs of Beowolves with no backup."

Ozpin chuckled. "The Grimm around Patch aren't particularly powerful."

Qrow sighed. "Well, if that doesn't interest you, then maybe this next bit will. She awakened her Aura by herself."

Ozpin suddenly became intrigued instead of inwardly concerned. "Really? That shouldn't be possible unless she's in life threatening danger."

"Well, she wasn't when she woke hers up." Qrow shook his head with a smirk as h sipped his drink this time. "Her Semblance is interesting too. It speeds her up. A lot."

Ozpin sipped at his coffee, trying to enjoy it. "That isn't all though, is it?"

Qrow shook his head. "No. When she kills Grimm using it, they scatter into rose petals. Speaking of, rose petals come off of her cloak when she uses it."

Ozpin closed his eyes and sighed. "Sounds somewhat like an upgrade on S-... your teammate's Semblance."

"Thanks for remembering not to say anything." He raised his glass to Ozpin slightly before he went back to drinking it. "But yeah. Sounds like hers, but does more."

Ozpin looked at his slowly refilling cup and then sighed. "Have you… confronted her on any of this?"

Qrow shook his head. "No. I don't want it to seem like I'm spying on her. Still uncomfortable about that, by the way."

Ozpin sipped his coffee again and then sighed. "If what you're saying is true, and not just a series of coincidences, then I'd like her to come to Beacon. I just need a sufficient excuse to offer her the chance."

Qrow chuckled. "Well, she's a good person still, almost like the Grimm aren't affecting her at all. Or Yang, for that matter. I mean, a few days ago, those two saved three faunus from being killed. Well, two. The third goes to Beacon."

Ozpin glared into his cup. "And… who was this student…?"

"Umm… give me a sec… long brown hair… large rabbit ears… a girl…"

"Velvet Scarlatina."

Qrow snapped his fingers. "Yeah. Her. Sorry Oz, not as good as you when in comes to remembering everyone's names."

Ozpin nodded softly. "And… what did they do to the assailants?"

Qrow chuckled. "Oh, you'll love this. So, Yang hit this one guy into the air with her shot gauntlets, sending him flying with first degree burns, and then broke another one's knees and started kicking them in the ribs." He started laughing. "T-Then, Ruby comes in and sliced one of their guns in two, which isn't very exciting, but then she cuts through the engine of their getaway car!"

Ozpin cracked a smile at that. "She cut through. A car. Well, I've heard a lot, but never a fifteen year old slicing through a car with ease." He drank his coffee, then chuckled at his own thoughts. ' _Well, maybe once or twice.'_

Qrow chuckled at that, then downed the rest of his drink. "Yeah you have. But if you can find a way to get Rubes into Beacon early, be my guest. Just make sure that she doesn't slack off on her training." He stood up, grabbed his sword, and stumbled out of the bar. "Thanks for the drink Oz. I'll pay for the next one, if I live that long." He walked in the general direction of his house, bumping into a lot of people.

Ozpin chuckled and then looked at his watch. ' _Hmm. I'm almost out of time. Interesting.'_ He then looked at the clock in the bar. ' _I need to get back to Amber. While the stasis device is working, she still needs regular aura transfers to live… There I go again, thinking to myself. I'm used to speaking to the other soul.'_ He paid for whatever Qrow drank and his coffee, then calmly walked out of the bar before a green orb surrounded him and he disappeared.

* * *

Ruby coughed heavily as she collapsed onto her knees. She was transferring her energy to her soul again. With **[Gamer's Body]** she adapted to the pain very quickly, but that didn't really matter if the pain escalated with each passing second.

Yang looked over at Ruby, very concerned. "Don't push yourself Sis. You still got a couple of days, and you made a lot of progress. I mean, you've been training your AP nonstop. Really, you need to take a break."

Ruby's panting went away as she nodded. "Yeah, but… wait, why haven't you been doing this this?"

Yang chuckled nervously. "W-Well, I-I have! Yeah! It just isn't as effective as yours!"

Ruby deadpanned as she stared at Yang. "Yang, I can see your AP in the Party Menu. It's been going up in bursts of twenty five. You haven't been doing the stuff."

Yang groaned with a smile. "Fine. I haven't been training that. I've been working on my STR. It's at 46!"

Ruby sighed. "Well, at least you've been training like you said. And your DEX? Mine's at a base of 31." She then thought for a minute and then opened her status page.

 **Name: Ruby Rose**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Semblance: Flowing Petals (Stage 1)**

 **LV: 16 Next Level: 0.00%**

 **HP: 700/700 (Regen: 14)**

 **MP: 0/0 (Regen: 8)**

 **AP: 1005/1005(Regen 22(14+8))**

 **STR: 25(26)**

 **VIT: 28(29.12)**

 **DEX: 31(32.24)**

 **INT: 16**

 **WIS: 6**

 **LUK: 11**

 **Lien: 2550**

 **Stat Points: 5**

 **Traits:**

 **Silver Eyes (Stage 1): Minor [Fear] status inflicted on minor Grimm, 5% chance for a premonition of the future**

"Oh! I finished the quest!" Ruby smiled at her AP count. It was over 1000, so she didn't have to train it for now. Which meant that she could focus on her stats or maybe her skills.

Yang smirked evilly. "Does that mean we can do some fun stuff now?"

Ruby looked at the clock in her room and saw that it was getting late. "Crap! I have to go get more ammo for Crescent Rose!" She jumped out the window and activated her Semblance. "We'll do some fun stuff tomorrow Yang! I promise!" Ruby then ran as fast as she could towards the bridge connecting Vale and Patch, trying to get to 'From Dust 'Till Dawn' before it closed.

* * *

A man with orange hair and a fedora walked into the dust shop with people that were clearly goons wearing all black with red sunglasse. He took a toke of his cigar, then tapped the ash off of the end of it, making sure that it fell onto the counter. "Do you have _any_ idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?"

Ruby tilted her head a bit, hearing the man, and not liking his tone. She then smirked and equipped red headphones that she stored in her Inventory, and then played the first song on her list. It happened to be 'This Will Be The Day' by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams. She read that Casey had a Semblance that empowers anyone she wants to while she's singing. She found that neat.

The old man quickly raised his hands and backed away from the counter. "Please! Just take my Lien and leave!"

The orange haired man shushed the owner of the store. "Calm down, we aren't here for your money." He then turned his head back towards the goons and any trace of compassion left his voice immediately. "Grab the Dust."

Ruby grabbed a magazine about weapons and pretended to read it.

The goons began to fill up metal canisters with powdered dust. One of them went for the Shock Dust and saw Ruby standing there with her hood up. He pulled a sword off of his belt and pointed it at Ruby. "Alright kid! Hands where I can see 'em!"

Ruby pretended not to hear him.

The goon glared at Ruby. "Hey! I said hands in the air!" He walked over to Ruby and turned her around by grabbing her shoulder, making her hood fall off as well.

Ruby pretended to be surprised.

The goon pointed at his ears.

Ruby took off her headphones and looked the goon in the eyes. Sorta. "Yes?"

The goon growled under his breath. "I said, put your hands in the air! Now!"

Ruby pretended to be confused. "A-Are you… robbing me?"

"YES!"

"Ohhh…" Ruby faked herself coming to a realization and narrowed her eyes. She then kicked the goon as hard as she could, sending him flying across the store. She then saw another goon running down the same place the first one came from.

The goon pointed a gun at Ruby. "Freeze!"

Ruby wordlessly rushed the man, drop kicking him and sending him through the window, with her following close behind to see if she needed to finish him off. She landed in a crouch and stood slowly as Crescent Rose began to become a scythe again. Ruby looked at the group of thieves and smirked as she twirled her weapon above her and slammed the blade into the ground. She had somehow gotten her headphones in her hands, so she clicked the music off and hid it in her Inventory. She looked at the man with orange hair.

 **Rogue Firework**

 **Roman Torchwick**

 **LV: 62**

Roman had another cigar lit and just stared at Ruby. "Okaaaay…" He then glanced at his goons, then cocked his head to the right. He spoke in an annoyed voice. "Get her."

The remaining four goons ran outside and one of them took a swing at Ruby.

Ruby jumped over the blade and swung herself above her scythe to hit the attacker with a vicious double kick to the face.

 **Semblance: [Flowing Petals] has been activated!**

She spun herself once more to get enough momentum to pull Crescent Rose out of the ground and for her to land on her feet. Ruby held the scythe in a reverse grip behind her back and then began to spin, pulling the trigger of her weapon to increase her spinning speed as she slammed the blunt side of the scythe into one of the goons, a loud crack ringing out from his body, which was sent into the air. She then spun Crescent Rose around and hit one of the goons in the chest, slamming him into the ground, and, quite possibly, breaking all of his ribs. Ruby then fired a shot at the last goon, being sent backwards. She used her scythe to dodge again, and once more to close the distance between the two fighters. Ruby kicked the goon at the angle where he would go flying into the air, making her stab Crescent Rose into the ground to stop herself, spin around while at a near 90 degree arc, yank it out of the ground again, and slam the goon down at Torchwick's feet.

Roman ashed his cigar on the downed form of the goon in front of him. He took on a sarcastic tone. "You were worth every cent, truly you were." He stepped over the goon and stopped a few steps from Ruby. "Well 'Red', I think we can all say that it's been an eventful evening!" He dropped his cigar and crushed it with the end of his cane. "And as much as I'd _love_ to stick around…" He pointed the end of the cane at Ruby, and a crosshairs flipped up to reveal the barrel of a very long gun. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He pulled a trigger that was on the handle of his cane, releasing a very large, very dangerous bolt of fire from it.

Ruby merely dodged to the side and rushed Torchwick, hitting him in the chest. She activated her **[Aura]** and glared at the man.

Torchwick groaned as he stumbled back. Once he recovered, he dusted off his suit and then fired off three bolts around the same area, at nearly the same time, forcing Ruby to fly up into the air using Crescent Rose. He took the opportunity to run towards a nearby fire escape and climb up to the roof of that building.

Ruby saw the owner of the Dust shop walk into the frame of the front door. She then looked over at the ladder Torchwick was climbing. "You okay if I go after him?"

The old man nodded, letting out a noise of consent.

Ruby rushed over there and leaped up, using Crescent Rose to get just the tiny bit of height she needed. She glared at Torchwick. "Hey!"

Torchwick glanced at Ruby from behind him. "Persistent…"

Ruby wasted no time in rushing towards Torchwick. She knew that she couldn't beat him, because of the clear level difference, but she could at least stall him. That IS what her quest said, anyways.

 **Fall of Grimm: 1/?**

 **Roman Candle**

 **Main Objective 1: Be at the shop 'Dust 'Till Dawn' at 9:00 PM**

 **Main Objective 2: Defeat Roman Torchwick's goons.**

 **Main Objective 3: Successfully delay Torchwick's escape for one minute**

 **Side Objective 1: Delay Torchwick until a Hunter/Huntress arrives**

 **Side Objective 2: Damage ?**

 **Main Rewards: 7500 EXP, 5000 Lien, Grade '6' Burn Dust Crystal, 5L Canister of Burn Dust powder**

 **Side Reward 1: Increased standing with the Hunter/Huntress who arrives, Increased standing with the staff of Beacon, increased standing with Ozpin**

 **Side Reward 2: 10000 EXP, Increased standing with ?**

 **Failure: Death of all human and Faunus, World overtaken by Grimm**

This was the quest she had gotten this morning, and it specifically said to delay him. But to have any chance at that, she had to attack with lethal force. So she rushed in and unleashed a flurry of attacks at Roman, forcing him to either dodge or block, not giving him a chance to counter. When it seemed like he would, she backed off and fired her sniper at him. When it seemed like he was about to fire off another one of those explosive rounds, she closed the distance again.

Roman finally countered one of Ruby's attacks and threw her back across the roof. An airship quickly rose from behind him and he climbed into it quickly. He took a Burn Dust crystal out of his jacket. Torchwick held it up to Ruby. "End of the line Red!" He tossed it at her feet, trying to get it to land in front of her.

Ruby wasn't going to have any of that, so she went to go grab it, when a person dropped in front of her and a mystical purple barrier formed in front of her. She stared up at the person's title.

 **Northern Witch**

 **Glynda Goodwitch**

 **LV:?**

Torchwick whooped a tiny bit, then growled slightly when he saw that Ruby wasn't harmed in the slightest.

Glynda looked at Torchwick and 'humphed', adjusted her glasses, then waved her riding crop in the air and summoned purple energy bolts to attack the airship. Each bolt hit the ship with tremendous force behind it. She fired volley after volley of the energy bolts at the ship, attempting to bring it down.

Torchwich stumbled inside of the ship, then made his way to the cockpit. "We got a Huntress!"

A woman in a scarlet dress with golden detailing quickly stood from the pilot's seat and made Torchwick take the stick.

Glynda adjusted her glasses as she glowed purple, and then launched a powerful bolt of energy above the airship, making a glyph flash in the sky. From that glyph came storm clouds, and from those storm clouds came large ice spears that pierced the hull of the airship, if only slightly.

The woman walked calmly into the open cargo hold and stared Glynda down, her face shadowed, only revealing her glowing orange eyes. The gold on the dress began to glow orange as cinders came off of it. Fire flashed onto the woman's left hand, and she trailed it down her right arm, causing the flames to grow larger by the minute. When she fired it at Glynda, an odd screeching sound rang through the area. Like the air or the flames itself were in agony.

Glynda easily deflected it, then looked down to see the roof becoming white hot. She flipped backwards and a pillar of fire rose from the ground, the screeching crying out again, sending shards of roof into the air.

" _Help us!"_

Ruby held her head as a voice rang out in her head.

Glynda stood next to Ruby as she flicked her riding crop upwards and then spun it, gathering the shards in the air, making a spinning lance, then sent it at the woman.

The woman let loose a few blasts of fire at the lance, seemly destroying it, when it came together again and nearly hit the woman.

Roman saw the spear and then tilted the airship towards it, the shrapnel deflecting off of the hull.

Glynda split the lance into three ribbons of shrapnel that began to wrap around the ship.

The woman seemed to look frantically at them, before crossing her arms in front of her, causing six sets of glyphs to wrap around her. She threw her arms out and the screeching occurred again as a wave of heat emanated from her, incinerating the shrapnel.

" _It hurts!"_

Ruby shook her head and then glared at the woman.

 **Stolen Maiden**

 **Cinder Fall**

 **LV:?**

 **Trait: [Silver Eyes] have activated!**

She quickly shifted Crescent Rose into its rifle form and fired as many shots at Cinder as she could.

Cinder blocked each bullet with ease, and she swept her arm in front of her, making the roof behind and to the side of Ruby and Glynda to become white hot. The screeching rang out again.

Ruby yelled at Cinder. "STOP IT!"

 **The spirits hear your plea.**

 **Affinity: [Air] has been unlocked**

 **Affinity: [Fire] has been unlocked**

The screeching stopped and the heat dissipated.

' _What…? Why didn't it work?!'_ Cinder swept her hand in front of her again, the screeching ringing out again as the roof under the two other combattants became white hot once more.

Ruby held her head in pain again as she heard the screaming again.

Glynda looked over at Ruby, then forced her forward. She cartwheeled out of the way of the blast and and then glared up at the retreating airship.

 **!QUEST COMPLETE!**

 **Fall of Grimm: 1/?**

 **Roman Candle**

 **Main Objective 1: Be at the shop 'Dust 'Till Dawn' at 9:00 PM**

 **Main Objective 2: Defeat Roman Torchwick's goons.**

 **Main Objective 3: Successfully delay Torchwick's escape for one minute**

 **Side Objective 1: Delay Torchwick until a Hunter/Huntress arrives**

 **Side Objective 2: Damage ?**

 **Rewards: 7500 EXP, 5000 Lien, Grade '6' Burn Dust Crystal, 5L Canister of Burn Dust powder, Increased standing with the Hunter/Huntress who arrives, Increased standing with the staff of Beacon, increased standing with Ozpin**

 **You have gained a level!**

Cinder gazed down at Ruby as the hatch to the ship closed. ' _She had something to do with my power failing. She's interesting.'_

Ruby panted as she recovered from her headache quickly, then looked up at Glynda. "Y-You're a Huntress…"

Glynda turned to glare at Ruby.

Right before Ruby was about to become a fangirl, she closed her eyes and breathed. "W-Who was that…?"

Glynda said nothing and just checked her watch before sighing. "At least you have the slightest sense of the danger you were in… Though I'll need you to come with me."

Ruby blinked as all of her active abilities shut off. "What? Why?"

"Because…" Glynda seemed to force herself to calm down, though it didn't work all that well. "Because someone wants to talk to you. Though… If it were up to me, you'd be sent home immediately. With a pat on the back-"

Ruby smiled.

Glynda's glare intensified. "And a slap on the wrist!" She raised Ruby's arm and used her riding crop to hit Ruby on the wrist, hard. She quickly touched Ruby's forehead and a purple glow surrounded them as they appeared in a police interrogation room. Glynda then sat Ruby down in a seat across from a closed door. She pulled a scroll out of a pocket in her dress and extended it, revealing multiple tabs. She messages someone.

' _She's here'_

The door opened to reveal a man with white hair walking in, carrying a plate of cookies and a mug of coffee. "Ruby Rose."

Ruby looked up at the man.

 **The Man Time Forgot / The Man With Two Souls**

 **Ozpin / ?**

 **LV: ? / ?**

' _Two titles…?'_

"You…" Ozpin leaned forward to look Ruby in the eyes. "Have silver eyes…"

Ruby's eyes widened as she watched Ozpin sit down in the chair across from her. "You know what's so special about my eyes?"

Ozpin nodded. "I do. And it seems that you have an idea of it as well." He took a sip of his coffee and saw Glynda pulling up a video feed of Ruby taking out the goons with ease. "So, where did you learn to do _this_?" He tilted his head at the video feed.

Ruby thought for a moment. If she lied, the two Hunters in front of her would know. Plus, she'd probably ruin every chance to get into Beacon, seeing as who was talking to her. "Signal Academy."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at that statement. "They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"

Ruby nodded a bit. "Yeah. W-Well, one teacher in particular." She looked at the plate of cookies and then looked up at Ozpin, who gestured that she could take one. Which she did. And she enjoyed it a lot. So she had another. And another. And another until her cheeks were stuffed with the crumbs.

Ozpin smirked internally. "I see… It's just that I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before." He took a sip of his coffee. "A dusty old crow."

Ruby swallowed all of the cookie bits in her mouth. "That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing!" Before she could say anything else, she realized the pun she made and groaned. "I'm turning into Yang… anyways, now…" She smiled a bit. "I can do that."

Ozpin nodded at Glynda, who pulled up another feed of Cinder's attack failing after Ruby yelled at her, the silver eyes glowing slightly. "And what about… this?"

Ruby looked down at her hands. "W-Well… Whenever that woman attacked I… heard someone screaming in pain, and I put two and two together, and I screamed at her to stop, and she stopped for a second."

"Is that… all?" Ozpin sipped his coffee again.

Ruby nodded. "I don't know how I did it."

Ozpin set down his cup. "Are you sure that you did it alone…?"

"I…" Ruby thought for a minute, then looked at the window that popped up. "No."

Ozpin gazed at Ruby a bit. "Then tell me. Who helped you."

Ruby stared at the window again. "The… You won't believe me."

Ozpin smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Go on." ' _A power that can counter a Maidens. It's interesting.'_

"W-Well… The elements did." Ruby poked her fingers together, waiting for the two to start laughing.

Ozpin sipped at his coffee again. It then began to refill itself. "Is controlling the elements your Semblance?"

Ruby shook her head. "No. Mine's called 'Flowing Petals', and… well… right now, it makes me fast, and if I kill something with it on, then they scatter into rose petals."

Ozpin nodded a bit. "I see…" He set the mug on the table. "So, let's change the topic. What is an adorable little girl like yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

Ruby smiled, glad that Ozpin changed the topic before she said anything about her Gamer power. "Well… I want to become a Huntress."

Ozpin looked serious and then leaned forward. "You… want to slay monsters?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. Well, sorta. I want to help people. I only have two more years at Signal, then I'm going to apply to Beacon. My sister is going this year and she's trying to become a Huntress too. Our parents always told us to help others so I thought, 'Well I might as well make a career of it'." She chuckled. "I mean, the police are alright but Huntsmen and Huntresses are so much more romantic and exciting and cool a-" Ruby cut herself off before she could start fangirling again. "Bottom line is, I want to help people. And becoming a Huntress seemed like the best way to do it."

Ozpin suppressed a chuckle and stared at Ruby. "…Do you know who I am?"

Ruby nodded. "Y-You're Professor Ozpin. The Man With Tw-" She covered her mouth when she saw Ozpin and Glynda glaring down at her like she was an enemy.

Glynda spoke for the first time since introducing Ozpin. "What you were about to say is highly confidential information. Just _how_ did you learn of that?! It isn't your Semblance, as you just explained it to us."

Ruby cleared her throat, then chuckled sheepishly. "W-Well… I can… kiiiinda see it above his head. But he has two things. The other one is 'The Man That Time Forgot'. Does… his Semblance have something to do with Time?"

Ozpin smiled at that. "Yes. It does. So you say you see words above my head. Did you see something above the woman's head as well?"

Ruby thought for a minute, then thought about a saying that she read in a book once. 'In for a penny, in for a pound.' "Yeah. It said 'Stolen Maiden'. Any explanation? Or… should I forget about it?"

Glynda groaned. "You are clearly not going to forget about it, but we can't tell you outright. You'll have to wait until you come to Beacon."

Ruby sighed. "Alright… I can wait."

Ozpin seemed to ponder something, then looked Ruby in the eyes. "How badly do you wish to come to my school?"

Ruby's spirits immediately brightened with hope. "More than anything!"

Ozpin smiled softly and sipped at his coffee again before leaning back. He looked at Glynda, who rolled her eyes. "Well, okay."

"W-Wait, really?!" Ruby was about to stand up, but she forced herself not to.

Ozpin chuckled. "Yes. Really. Though I must warn you that because you are skipping two years ahead, you will have a much harder time in class then the others."

Ruby's eyes shined with conviction. "I don't care! In just means I have that much more to go before I become a Huntress!""

Ozpin looked at Glynda again. "Well, she certainly has the spirit of a Huntress."

Glynda sighed, clearly annoyed. "Yes, but she isn't ready for Beacon."

Ruby hear all of this and then sighed. "No, I'm not. But I don't have to be ready to be a good Huntress. I doubt anyone was ready for their first mission, so I'll just treat it like that!"

' _Well now I have to let her into my school'_ Ozpin smiled. "That's a commendable attitude." He set some papers down in front of Ruby, who had no idea how he got them. "Study this. It's your schedule. Classes begin in a few days." He stood up and said one last thing to Ruby before he left. "I hope that you have your bags packed, Miss Rose."

* * *

Ruby panted as she ran on the treadmill again. She had to keep training. The only thing that she learned from that fight is that she is WAY out of her league. Besides! Level isn't everything! She can get stronger without hunting down Grimm. It was easier, but not an option while Yang was asleep. "Ugh… I said way too much… why do I have to say the first thing that comes to mind? I need to think more…"

 **For contemplating your past mistakes and learning how to remedy it, you have gained +1 WIS**

Ruby sighed dejectedly. "Rub salt in the wound, why don't you…"

 **Due to constantly pushing yourself farther nonstop, you have gained + 2 VIT**

"Thanks…" Ruby opened her stat screen and saw a new section under her Traits. "That's… new… I think? It might have always been there… but just hidden?"

 **Name: Ruby Rose**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Semblance: Flowing Petals (Stage 1)**

 **LV: 17 Next Level: 0.00%**

 **HP: 725/725 (Regen: 14.5)**

 **MP: 0/0 (Regen: 8)**

 **AP: 1005/1005(Regen 22.5(14.5+8))**

 **STR: 25(26)**

 **VIT: 30(31.20)**

 **DEX: 31(32.24)**

 **INT: 16**

 **WIS: 7**

 **LUK: 11**

 **Lien: 7550**

 **Stat Points: 10**

 **Traits:**

 **Silver Eyes (Stage 1): Minor [Fear] status inflicted on minor Grimm, 5% chance for a premonition of the future**

 **Affinities:**

 **Air (Stage 0)**

 **Fire (Stage 0)**

 **Water (Locked)**

 **Earth (Locked)**

 **Light (Locked)**

 **Darkness (Locked)**

"Now why are those other four locked…? I know that it sai-... Hold it!" Ruby jumped off of the treadmill and ran upstairs and searched through the pile of books that Yang dumped in their room. "Where is it… I know that it's here… I just read it earlier today… aha!" She pulled a book out of the pile titled 'Story of the Seasons' "Wait… 'Stolen Maiden'…" Ruby began to read through the book again and found out that the Maidens could control the elements. Well, not control, more like… had contracts with them. Didn't tell her how to make the contracts though. But, it did say that the Maidens could use the elements. How the Spring Maiden used Air mostly air magic, how the Summer Maiden used mostly Earth magic, and how the Fall Maiden used mostly… fire magic. "Ohm… Cinder is the Fall Maiden. But… her title says 'stolen' … So maybe she stole the power of the Fall Maiden at some point…"

 **You have deciphered the Tale of the Maidens! You have gained +2 WIS and +1 INT for your logical thinking!**

"… Am I _that_ stupid…?" Ruby sighed as she set the book down. "So… Cinder stole the power of the Fall Maiden… somehow… so does that mean the real Fall Maiden is dead…?

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **(Fall of Grimm 2/?)**

 **Fallen Maiden**

 **Main Objective: Discover the fate of the Fall Maiden**

 **Side Objective: Heal the Fall Maiden**

 **Main Rewards: 3000 EXP, 5000 Lien, Information on Cinder Fall**

 **Side Rewards: Ally: Fall Maiden gained, Significantly increases standing with all parties associated with the Fall Maiden.**

 **Failure: Death of the Fall Maiden, Fall of Beacon***

 ***depends on time of failure if it occurs**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Naturally, Ruby hit the 'YES' button. The quest didn't say, but it was a chance for her to help people. Which she would always take. "… Great… now I need a healing skill…" She sighed and then rummaged through the books for something interesting. Even though she didn't find anything. "Darn…"

Yang yawned rather loudly and looked at Ruby rummaging through the pile of books. "Ruby…? What are you looking for…?" She fell off of her sister's bed and crawled over to her.

Ruby jumped a bit. "W-Well, I'm looking for healing stuff. Or… stuff about healing." She sighed. "I just got a new quest. It says to 'Heal the Fall Maiden'... but I don't know how I could do that. Or even if it's possible."

Yang yawned again, probably too tired to acknowledge the 'Maiden' part. "Well, you just… need to heal someone…" She yawned again. "Look, I'll go into town tomorrow and see if I can find anything on healing, okay…?" Yang then collapsed and fell asleep on the floor.

Ruby sighed with a smile. "Sorry Yang… But I can't wait for you to wake up to train." She opened the window and then jumped out it to go hunt Grimm. She knew that it was a huge risk, but again, she realized tonight that she was ridiculously outclassed. She needed to get stronger quick, and the best way to do that in any of the games she had played is to hunt the monsters. Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose and ran through the forest looking for Grimm. She found them, though there weren't many. She quickly dispatched them with a combination of her Semblance and her ability to fight. It was fast. Almost not worth mentioning. But Ruby knew that she had to keep hunting, so that's what she did. She hunted all throughout the night, taking out pockets of Grimm, attacking them from the shadows, and occasionally using her energy to recharge her AP, seeing as the regen was WAY to low. Rustling came from the bushes where she was resting.

Ruby didn't waste any time staring and just fired into the bush, drawing out her enemy.

 **Little Bear**

 **Ursa Minor**

 **LV: 20**

Ruby blinked, then glared at the grimm, causing it to flinch heavily.

 **Trait: [Silver Eyes] has been upgraded!**

 **You have inflicted the status effect [Fear] on a target! This status effect will cause the enemy to hesitate in its actions and, if high enough, flee from the battle! This status effect will also increase the chance of Critical Hits!**

Ruby smirked and capitalized on the Ursa's hesitation and rushed towards it, swinging herself around its body and then placing the blade of Crescent Rose to its neck, and pulled the trigger repeatedly, decapitating it after the fifth shot.

 **You have gained the Title: [Beginning Grimm Slayer]**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained 500 Lien!**

Ruby sighed as she fell on her butt. She panted, suddenly exhausted. "A title huh…? Neat… Let's see it." She pushed on the title and then got an explanation.

 **Beginning Grimm Slayer: Your time hunting the Creatures of the Grimm have finally begun to pay off, and as such, have grown stronger against your enemy.**

 **+/- 10% damage dealt/taken from all Creatures of Grimm**

 **\+ 5% Critical Chance/Damage against all Creatures of Grimm**

Ruby smiled tiredly as she equipped the Title. "Yay… Now let's do some math… got 500 Lien from that one… and I've killed a lot of Beowolves… so… I think I got 4000 tonight… cookies…~" She sighed again and leaned against a tree. "So this is what a Hunter does… just kill and kill and kill… well, I guess it's implied in the name that we'd hunt, but… I thought that it would be more romantic than this… More fun. This is just… stressful." Ruby took a deep breath and steeled herself as she felt her energy returning. "But… if it helps people, then I'll keep at it!"

* * *

"But… if it helps people, then I'll keep at it!"

Ozpin smiled as he sipped his coffee. "Miss Rose is certainly taking her future job seriously. Though… I wonder how she figured out about the Maidens."

Qrow chuckled as he pulled out his flask. "Relax Oz. I'm sure she knows not to tell anyone. And if she does, then _they_ won't tell anyone. I mean, she's only told Yang, and she was too tired to even hear the part about the Maidens." He unscrewed the cap on the flask and then began to chug the whisky inside.

Ozpin nodded. "Yes, I'm sure that she'll become strong in the following months." He turned the monitor off and then looked Qrow in the eyes. "I need you to gather information for me."

Qrow stopped drinking for a second and then stared at Ozpin. "Again? The school year's just about to start. I got a class to teach."

Ozpin shook his head. "Don't worry. You won't have to go far. I just need you to… talk to someone for me. An old contact that I had long since left behind."

Qrow sighed. "Fine. Who is this guy?"

Ozpin looked down at his cup. "He calls himself Sung Ma-Hyun. He _was_ the branch manager of what used to be called the Abyss Auction. And in fact, he was one of the strongest of them. He ran it in the area we know now as Menagerie. But… that was thousands of years ago." He looked at Qrow and gestured for him to walk over to him. "As of now, he is one of few that can defeat me."

Qrow chuckled. "You gotta be kidding Oz. Someone who can beat you, let alone someone who's thousands of years old is living nearby? Wouldn't I heard of something like that?"

Ozpin shook his head. "No. You wouldn't. Because he's only known to those who had knowledge of the Abyss before it fell with the rest of the world." He chugged his coffee and then sighed. "I need you to ask him a simple question."

Qrow thought for a minute then nodded. "What's the question?"

Ozpin closed his eyes in thought. "Ask him… what he remembers about games."

* * *

Ruby was in the gym again, just waiting for Yang and her dad to wake up. She was just running as fast as she could.

 **Run Ruby! Run! + 1 DEX**

"If… that's a… reference… then… I… I don't get it…! Hah…" Ruby stared at the window before dispelling it. All she could do was keep running. She didn't let herself stop.

 **Exhaustion is only temporary! +1 VIT**

Ruby smiled and then looked at her stats. "What do I do…? … I'm only level 18. I have some time to save up new points." She then smiled as she dumped all of her points into her lowest stat, bringing her WIS up to 24. "Woah…" Ruby slowed the treadmill down to a stop and then held her head. "Geez… got dizzy for a sec." She shook off the dizziness, then frowned. Her training wasn't going fast enough. Maybe if she used her Semblance- Ruby gasped. "That's it! I can use my Semblance, and then when I'm out of AP, I can just charge it and I'll be ready to go again! I'll be able to train my **[Aura],** Semblance, and my stats!"

 **You have found a small loophole in your training! +1 WIS**

Ruby smiled and then activated her Semblance, ignoring the window that popped up. She started running at her previous speed, then shook her head as she made the treadmill faster. It soon became just fast enough to make her run at her new top speed. She repeated this process for the rest of the night, her faster speed raising her DEX by two more points, her VIT by three, and her AP increased by 10. She had also gotten a level in **[Aura]** from keeping it on all the time. She felt better. Much better then she had ever felt before. It was probably the stat points. "I need to tell this to Yang." Ruby then looked at the bench press. "But first, I think I need to catch up on my STR training."

* * *

 **!QUEST COMPLETE!**

 **Gaging your Aura**

 **Main Objective 1: Find a way to increase your maximum AP without stat increases!**

 **Main Objective 2: Raise your max AP to 750 in one week.**

 **Side Objective: Raise your max AP to 1000 in one week.**

 **Rewards: Assistance with unlocking your Mana, 2000 EXP**

Ruby held her red bags with her as she dispelled the window. It has been a few days since the attack, and… well, she's just been trying to spend time with Yang. Encourage her, get her stronger too. Sure her STR was at a base of 49 now, but Ruby told her to stop focusing on that and to train her other stats. So she had her run. And get more AP. Sure, Ruby gained a level in **[Scythe Mastery]** and **[Rifle Mastery]** , but she improved most in the skill that used to be **[Basic Martial Arts]** , but was changed into **[Unarmed Mastery]** by her power, probably because it sounded better. Her last day of self training raised her STR to a base of 29, and Ruby was happy with that. She didn't have to be super strong. Oh, and Yang also got her the skills **[First Aid]** and **[Aura Transfer]**

 **Aura Transfer** **(Active): LV: 3 EXP: 0.00%: AP Cost: Special: Not many have the gift to restore aura, however, those who do are invaluable in all aspects of life.**

 **Allows for the transfer of one's aura to a target of their choosing.**

 **Rate of transfer is dependant on the user**

 **Range: Touch**

 **Maximum targets: 1**

 **First Aid** **(Passive): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%: The path of the healer is much more difficult then the path of the Warrior. But is far more useful.**

 **+5% effectiveness to all healing skills**

 **Allows for crafting of healing items**

While the **[First Aid]** skill would be really useful, she almost kissed Yang when she got her the **[Aura Transfer]** skill. That's when Yang's Aura training skyrocketed. While her sister ran with her **[Aura]** active, Ruby held her hand and kept transferring aura to Yang as she charged herself at the same rate. She didn't even have to move, and she knew that it would get better once she's able to get it to become ranged!

"Ruby! You all set to go to Signal?" Taiyang called up to Ruby.

Ruby was jolted out of her thoughts, and then smiled. "Actually dad, do you mind if I go with Yang to see her off first? I'll give you a call on my scroll when she leaves!" She ran downstairs after putting her luggage into her Inventory and looked her father in his eyes.

Taiyang smiled with a nod. "How can I say no to those puppy eyes you're making?"

Ruby hugged Taiyang tightly. "Thanks dad! You're the best!" She quickly ran out the door and hopped onto Yang's bike with her.

Yang smirked. "You ready to see me off sis?"

Ruby nodded, not saying anything, still not a good liar. She waved back at Taiyang. "Bye dad!"

Taiyang became slightly worried. "Be safe you two!"

Yang gave a lazy wave to their father as she put her sunglasses on. "No promises!" She revved Bumblebee's engine and then took off with Ruby clinging to her, a grin on her face.

Taiyang sighed as he leaned against the doorframe. He suddenly took out his scroll, seeing a text from Ozpin.

'I may have forgotten to mention it to you, Taiyang, however, I believe that I need to inform you that your daughter, Ruby Rose, has been accepted into Beacon and will be attending this year.'

"…WHAT?!"

Ruby grinned as she rode across the bridge with Yang.

Yang glanced back at Ruby. "So, why'd you really want to come with me?"

Ruby looked down and then smirked. "It's a secret! I'll tell you when we get there!"

Yang rolled her eyes and then leaned forwards as she began to shatter the speed limit.

"U-Umm… Yang? We're going kinda fast here…"

Yang just started to laugh.

"Yang…? YANG?!"

* * *

Yang rolled into the parking lot with a loud screech from her motorcycle as she parked it. "Woo! That was a thing!" SHe hopped off of Bumblebee and then dusted her hands off. "C'mon sis! You have my stuff, remember?"

Ruby was paralyzed for a moment, then looked around before pulling Yang's yellow bags out of her Inventory. "Here. Just… give me a sec." She then hopped off of the bike and began to walk towards the entrance to the airship.

Yang tapped Ruby's shoulder. "Umm… Ruby? You know that's the airship to Beacon right?"

Ruby looked back with a smile and nodded, then walked towards the entrance again. She pulled her scroll out of her pocket and then handed it to the guard, who looked at her information, and the list of accepted students. Once she was cleared for entry, she looked back at Yang and waved her over, telling her to hurry up.

Yang was dumbstruck for a minute, then smiled happily as she did the exact same thing as Ruby. She had to go stow her bags, and was then told to sit down as the airship took off. It took a while for it to be safe for them to walk around, but she immediately looked for Ruby.

Ruby was staring out the window in awe that she was actually flying. She was suddenly turned around and hugged very tightly by Yang.

"Ooh! I can't believe my baby sister's coming to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" Yang hugged Ruby even tighter.

"P-Please stop…" Ruby let out a choked plea to Yang.

Yang quickly let go and bounced on the balls of her feet a bit. "But I'm so proud of you~!"

Ruby sighed. "Really, sis, it was nothing."

Yang scoffed. "At this point, even though it's only been a week, I don't think anything is nothing! Besides! What you did was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think that you're the bee's knees!"

Ruby groaned. "L-Look, Yang. I don't want to be the bee's knees! I… I don't want all the attention on me. I don't want people thinking that I'm special."

Yang walked over to Ruby again and wrapped an arm around her. "But you _are_ special. You got into Beacon two years early! Plus, your amazing power that lets us be amazing makes you even more special!" She then smirked as she looked around. "So, tell me. Who should we be worried about?"

Ruby hummed a bit and looked over the crowd. "I… wouldn't say worried, but we should definitely see if we can befriend some of them! Like…"

 **The Untouchable Girl**

 **Pyrrha Nikos**

 **LV: 51**

 **Lightning Rod**

 **Nora Valkyrie**

 **LV: 43**

 **Without a Trace**

 **Lie Ren**

 **LV: 42**

 **Paladin**

 **Jaune Arc**

 **LV: 10**

 **Loneliest of All**

 **Weiss Schnee**

 **LV: 32**

 **Shadow Cat**

 **Blake Belladonna**

 **LV: 37**

 **Copycat Bunny**

 **Velvet Scarlatina**

 **LV: 40**

"Oh! Velvet's here!" Ruby was about to go over to Velvet, when another girl in sunglasses walked over to her.

 **Supersonic Princess**

 **Coco Adel**

 **LV: 63**

Yang looked at Coco and smiled. "Well, I guess that's the Coco she was talking about. Anyways, see anyone good?"

Ruby nodded and listed off the list of people that stood out to her.

Yang tilted her head at Jaune. "Why him? He's only level ten. You were moved up two years, so you have an excuse!"

Ruby smiled gently. "It's not his level that interests me. It's his title. 'Paladin'. Usually, those are your healing tanks in games. The game couldn't have been more on the nose about his Semblance."

Yang hummed a bit. "Maybe… but honestly, I think I just want you on my team Ruby! That way we can stay close!"

Ruby nodded softly, staring at Weiss. "Her title is 'Loneliest of All'… but she's a Schnee, so her Semblance is… Glyphs. Right?"

Yang smirked and ruffled Ruby's hair. "Well, someone's been studying their butts off huh?"

Ruby groaned with a smile and pushed Yang off of her. "Yang, please don't embarrass me!"

"The robbery was lead by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities."

Ruby looked over at the holographic screen, which showed a mug shot of a beat up Roman Torchwick.

"If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa." The screen flickered to a woman with yellow eyes and white hair, with the name 'Lisa Lavender' on the bottom of the screen.

"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights Protest has born fruit for the faunus, as the mayor of Vale agreed to discuss term with a representative of their choosing at an undisclosed date."

' _Looks like my Quest was right!'_ Ruby looked at the news and smiled. She helped someone, which in turn is helping other people.

The screen shut off and was replaced with a holographic projection of Glynda Goodwitch. "Hello and welcome to Beacon."

The two sisters stood in front of the hologram. Yang tilted her head a bit. "Who's that?"

Glynda put on a very practiced smile while she was standing on the holo emitter. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

Glynda seemed to be staring right through Ruby at the rest of the crowd. "You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy." She segwayed flawlessly into the next part of hew written introduction. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it." She took a deep breath, most likely to calm herself. "You have all demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The hologram faded after the speech without another word.

Ruby pressed herself against the window and then squealed in awe at the sight of Vale from above. "Look! You can see Signal from here!" She smiled as she looked towards Patch. "I guess home isn't so far after all."

Yang placed an arm around Ruby's shoulders again. "Beacon's our home now."

Ruby then heard heaving to her right and looked over to see Jaune covering his mouth, trying not to vomit. He ran past the sisters, failing at holding himself back.

The two watched Jaune walk by. "Well… I guess that the view isn't for everyone."

Ruby smiled as she looked at Yang. "It… was a nice moment while it lasted!"

Yang stared at out the window, looking at Beacon. "I wonder who else we're gonna meet!"

Ruby looked out the window as well. "Well… I just hope that we get someone nice." She then looked down for some reason, then jumped back. "Oh Yang gross! You have puke on your shoe!"

Yang looked down and began to freak out. "Gross gross gross gross gross gross!"

* * *

 **So… yeah. Well, Jaune came by to get Nora and Ren. I like Phyrra. She's calm, collected… shame what happened to her in the canon story... Anyways, gonna keep this short, a-**

 **Qrow: Hey! Where's the whisky?**

 **Top shelf in the kitchen, out of reach from Yang.**

 **Qrow: Thanks.**

 **So… yeah. See you guys.**


	4. Regina Glacies

**Dammit Yang! Calm down!**

 **Yang: *growls and throws a table at me* CALM DOWN?! YOU STILL MADE ME GET VOMIT ON MY SHOES!**

 ***growls* Mew. Restrain her.**

 **Mew: Why?**

 **Cookie.**

 **Mew: *immediately restrains and muffles Yang***

 ***sighs* That's better. So, I just binge watched the entire RWBY anime, big mistake there, because it's STILL STUCK IN MY HEAD AND I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE! Hah… okay! So! Reviews!**

 **xbox432: Well, I had Yang increase her INT, so she realized that some of her friends are pricks and she'd be better off partying with Ruby. But she's still… Yang. Coco tops the chart because she's a second year. Plus, she kicked a Grimm in the balls and it actually hurt it! You got to be REALLY strong to be able to do that! And Jaune still has no aura, so he's level ten on age and Semblance strength. But I won't have him be useless for very long.**

 **Jaune: Hey… I'm not useless.**

 **No. You aren't. You…..y-you're a good dancer! Hehe…**

 **Jaune: *pouts***

 **A-Anyways…**

 **Emiliano733: Still too early for me to be deciding on the ships. Don't worry. And the thing with Qrow is a maybe. A very broad form of maybe.**

 **blarg7865: I didn't know that there was a manga! And I might use Grimm Eclipse if I can get the game. And as for original Grimm… probably. I'll be making some more air based Grimm before I make sea Grimm, because just Nevermore and Griffons get boring fast.**

 **Saint of vice koncor: Well, he won't be a holy night. I won't say, but think Grimm Eclipse. I might make an OC team, but I can't promise anything original, as they've probably been made before. No mirror Ruby. Not gonna happen. Hate that cliche. The only reason I would have is if this were a Persona fan fic, but it's not. And no time travel crap either. That's thinking way too far ahead! And no White Night. Nothing against the ship, those two characters just don't… fit.**

 **Malestrom232: Thank you, and I plan to continue this until I clear my head of Ruby, so no worries there.**

 **Guest: I honestly never implied that. I specifically implied that it wouldn't be happening in this one. ...Won't stop me from looking at it on the internet though.**

 **Yang: *roars in anger***

 **Plasma Dragon 312: Ruby is very understanding, even in cannon. Of course she's going to help Jaune! Wouldn't you? And why do you think I added in an 'Allies' thing?**

 **So… yep. That's about i- Phyrra! Don't attack Mew!**

 **Phyrra: I'm sorry!**

 ***sighs* Well….At least N-**

 **Nora: Helloooo~~~~~!**

 **NOOO!**

* * *

"Speech"

'Scroll Message'

' _Thought'_

 **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

Ruby hummed a bit as she waited for Yang to come back from cleaning her shoes in the bathroom. She looked around and saw that Velvet was alone, so she walked over to her. "Velvet!"

Velvet quickly looked over and smiled. "Ruby!" She ran over to her and hugged her. She then stepped away quickly. "What are you doing here? I thought that you were going to Signal!"

Ruby quickly shushed Velvet. "I got moved up two years butdon'ttellanyone!"

"Who's the new girl Velvet?"

Ruby jumped in the air, yelping. "Save me Velvet!"

Velvet blinked and then caught Ruby in her arms. "Oh! Coco! This is Ruby! The girl who saved me and my friends outside of school!"

Coco looked at Ruby, chewing her gum. She blew a single bubble, then spit it out into a nearby trashcan. "This is Ruby? She's… pretty young to be coming to Beacon. What? She get moved up two years or something?"

Ruby somehow jumped out of Velvet's arms and hid behind her. "She knows!"

Velvet chuckled nervously and moved behind Ruby to push her forward. "Ruby, this is Coco. The leader of team CFVY(Coffee). My team!"

Coco smirked and held out her hand. "Pleasure to meet you Ruby. Just hope that you're up for the best four years of your life!"

Ruby stiffly shook Coco's hand. "I-It's a pleasure to meet you Coco!" She quickly let go and then slumped down with a sigh. "Sorry… I'm just… not good at meeting new people." ' _Thank Ohm that_ _ **[Gamer's Mind]**_ _kicked in…'_

Coco laughed at Ruby's behavior. "I like her! You think that we can ask Ozpin if we can keep her Vel?"

Velvet blushed softly, thinking what Coco said was much different then what she meant. "U-Umm…"

Coco started laughing harder. "W-What's gotten into you Velvet?! I was kidding! Besides, that's not what I meant you perverted rabbit! I guess it's true what they say about your sex drive!"

Velvet puffed out her cheeks. "Coco! That's racist and you know it!" She quickly smiled though, knowing that it was a joke, then blushed at the last part. "A-And it's harder to deal with then you think…"

Coco blinked, then looked at Ruby. "Ooookay… I don't think that the fifteen year old needs to hear this yet. I'm sure her busty blonde sister that you described would kill us for talking around her. So we should go… away from crowds. I'm pretty sure that any other Faunus in the crowd could smell you if you got like that Vel." She took Velvet's arm and led her away from the crowd. "It was good talking to you Ruby!"

Ruby waved at the two, confused at what they meant. She then sighed and looked for a secluded place to try and unlock her Mana. It was surprisingly easy. She sat against the window in a cross legged position and then sighed. "I'm ready to unlock my Mana."

 **Are you sure? This may alert Hunters in your general area to your presence.**

Ruby chuckled a bit. "Yes, I'm sure. Please."

 **Very well. Close your eyes. Your messages will still be visible to you temporarily.**

Ruby closed her eyes.

 **Now, what you must do to tap into your mana is much like how you transfer energy into your soul to get more aura, but in reverse. You are searching for a power in your soul separate from this one and your Semblance. Look for it.**

Ruby felt **[Gamer's Mind]** activate to assist her and then nodded as she quickly found her soul. It was red, with fading chains coming off of it. Two of them. She visualized reaching into it, and felt three things against her 'hand'. One felt hollow, another felt like, well, a rose with thorns. The last one was cool, kinda fluid, but able to be grasped.

 **Good. You found your Mana. Now yank it out.**

' _What? But… won't that hurt?'_

 **Yes, but it won't hurt all that much.**

Ruby nodded and took a deep breath before visualizing yanking the Mana out of her soul and into her body. She gritted her teeth, the sensation much more painful then the windows implied. Though once she yanked it out of her soul, she felt this cool, refreshing feeling wash over her.

 **Congratulations! You just unlocked your Mana! MP will be calibrated accordingly upon the next time you sleep.**

Ruby sighed as she opened her eyes. She then looked around and saw that none of the kids were looking at her. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all. Ruby stood up again and saw Yang walking out of the hallway Coco and Velvet left from.

Yang looked around and saw Ruby standing by a different window. She quickly walked over and groaned. "You would not believe how hard it is to get puke off of your shoes."

The speakers on the airship pinged on. "We are now approaching Beacon Academy."

Yang looked out the window with a smile. "Oh good. I got my shoes cleaned just in time."

Once the airship docked and the doors opened, Jaune came running out of the airship and threw up in the trashcan that was conveniently nearby.

Yang and Ruby glanced at Jaune for a second as they passed him and looked around. Ruby kept being amazed by everything. "I can't believe that we're really here Yang! Beacon Academy! Can you believe it?!"

Yang chuckled. "Yep. I can. I mean, we're here, aren't we? Now the big challenge will be to avoid getting thrown up on again." She shuddered at the thought of vomit getting into her hair. The two soon came into the plaza of the Beacon and stared up at just how tall it is. Yang crossed her arms as they stared up at the tower. "The view of Vale's got nothing on this!"

Ruby then looked around and then gasped loudly. "Sis! That kid's got a collapsable staff!" She gasped again with stars in her eyes. "And she's got a fire sword!" Before she could walk off though, she was able to calm herself. "S-Sorry."

Yang chuckled. "Easy there little sis. They're just weapons."

Ruby was about to go off on Yang, but her ability kept her calm. "Yang, they're more than just weapons. They're an extension of ourselves! How would you feel if I called your Ember Celica 'just weapons'?"

Yang thought for a moment, then nodded. "Fair point. But why are you freaking out so much over weapons?"

Ruby chuckled nervously. "Y-Yeah… for me, seeing new weapons is like meeting new people… only better, 'cause weapons can't hurt you unless used against you…"

Yang smiled sadly, which quickly turned into a confident smirk. She then pulled Ruby's hood over her eyes. "Ruby, come on! Why don't you go and try to make some more friends?"

Ruby pulled her hood off of her face. "But… why would I need any more friends when I have you?"

Yang chuckled nervously. "Weeeell…" A group of kids that Ruby didn't recognize rushed behind Yang. "Actually my friends are here now gotta go catch up 'k see you bye!" The group rushed past Ruby, leaving her spinning.

"W-Wait! Yang! W-Where are you going?! Aren't we supposed to go to our dorms?! We have dorms right?! Oh… what am I doing…?" Ruby stopped herself and stumbled in place. She tripped over a cart and then fell forward into it, sending white briefcases into the air.

"What are you doing?!"

Ruby held her head and looked up at the voice. "Sorry…"

 **Loneliest of All**

 **Weiss Schnee**

 **LV: 32**

Weiss pointed an accusing finger at Ruby and glared at her. "'Sorry'?! Do you have _any_ idea the damage you could've caused?!"

"Uhh…" Ruby grabbed a suitcase and offered it to Weiss. ' _I knew that I should've read up more on the Schnee family!'_

"Give me that!" Weiss snatched the white suitcase and opened it. "This is Dust! Mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry!"

Ruby held her head. "I…"

Weiss grabbed something from the case and closed it. She was now holding Red powdered Dust. Ruby [ **Observed]** it.

 **Grade 1 'Burn' Dust: Powdered**

She didn't bother reading the description.

Weiss's glare intensified. "What are you, braindead!?" She began to shake the bottle of Burn Dust to emphasize her words. "Dust! Fire! Water! Lightning! Energy!"

Ruby quickly got to her feet and then slowly backed away from the growing cloud of Red dust.

Weiss somehow took offense to this. "Are you even listening to me?! Is _any_ of this sinking in?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Ruby blinked and then pointed at the Dust cloud. "Well… I can say that you should… maybe do a better job at storing your Dust…? What would happen if I sneezed in this cloud? Wouldn't you explode?"

Weiss blinked and then finally saw the Dust cloud. She looked at the bottle and then tried to push the cork in deeper, then saw a crack on the neck of it. She growled and then tossed the bottle away, the glass somehow not shattering. "Regardless, this was your fault! If you had the slightest sense of your surroundings, then this situation wouldn't have happened in the first place!"

The bottle clattered on the ground before it rolled away, and was stopped by the foot of another girl, wearing mostly black.

"My fault?!" Ruby glared at Weiss as well, already fed up with her attitude. "You were the one waving that bottle around, knowing that there was a chance that powdered dust would get out! The only way to safely transport Dust in that form is to store them in airtight metal containers! You'd think that someone coming from a company dealing in Dust would know how to do that!"

Weiss bit back a gasp, knowing it was true, even though her pride took a blow. So she lashed out because of it. "How DARE you?! Do you know who I am?!"

"I don't care who you are princess!" Ruby shot back immediately.

"It's Heiress, actually."

Ruby looked over to see the girl dressed in black walk over to them, holding the bottle.

 **Shadow Cat**

 **Blake Belladonna**

 **LV: 36**

"Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

Weiss turned to Blake with a smile. "Finally! Some recognition!" She quickly looked back at Ruby and glared at her.

Blake smirked. "The same company infamous for their controversial labor force, and questionable business partners."

Weiss's head snapped back to look at Blake. "Wha- How dare- T-The nerve of-" She then groaned loudly and snatched the bottle of Dust from the girl.

Both Blake and Ruby watched Weiss storm off. Ruby sighed. "Looks like I'm not the only one having a rough first day…" She then looked at where Blake was. "So! What br-"

Blake was already walking away, not wanting to be around people.

Ruby groaned and then fell onto her back. As she looked up, she sighed. "Welcome to Beacon… I thought that **[Gamer's Mind]** would keep me calm…" She closed her eyes and a shadow covered her face.

"Hey."

Ruby opened her eyes to see a hand being offered to her.

 **Paladin**

 **Jaune Arc**

 **LV: 10**

"I'm Jaune." He smiled as he kept his hand outstretched towards the downed girl.

Ruby sat up and questioned herself for a moment, then took Jaune's hand. "I'm Ruby." The two stared at each other wordlessly for a moment, then snickered. "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

Jaune sighed dejectedly and slumped over. "Yeah…"

Ruby chuckled. "That's fine! Motion sickness is a much more common problem then people think it is."

Jaune's expression immediately brightened. "Thank you! I've been trying to tell that to people all my life!" He then looked around. "Hey, we should probably get moving."

Ruby nodded a bit and they started walking. "So… How'd you get into Beacon?"

Jaune smirked. "Well, I applied for it! Took the test! And passed! Went to all four years at Signal for it."

Ruby tilted her head. "Really? You'd think that you'd notice someone with blonde hair and blue eyes walking around. I would've."

Jaune chuckled. "W-Well, I've never seen you around either."

Ruby smirked and looked around. "No, maybe it's because you never went to Signal?"

Jaune stiffened up and then stared at Ruby. "H-How do you know?!"

Ruby started laughing genuinely. "Y-Your reaction! Plus, you don't lie very well. I mean, I got moved up two years, so I'm in the same boat as you. I don't know anyone here."

Jaune nodded a bit. "S-So… you won't tell anyone, right?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nope. Buuut… it might not be fair to you if I held a secret from you."

Jaune's eyes widened. "R-Really?"

Ruby nodded. "You seem like a nice guy! Plus, I don't think you have many friends. Like me." She then looked around again. "Can… Can I trust you?"

Jaune nodded. "O-Of course! I won't tell a soul! Not even my team mates! U-Unless you say it's fine."

Ruby snickered. "Okay, okay. But first, I need your full name." SHe looked around again and saw that they were walking by a fountain.

Jaune smirked at this. "Well, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, ladies love it!"

Ruby raised an eyebrow at that. "Do they?"

Jaune looked down at his feet. "T-They will! Well… I hope they will. M-My mom always says tha- …nevermind."

Ruby laughed at Jaune's reaction again. "O-Okay. **Create Party: Outcasts. Invite Jaune Arc**."

Jaune yelped as he fell backwards from the window popping up in front of his face. "Gah! Ow…" He rubbed his back and then looked up at Ruby. "This your Semblance?"

Ruby blinked. "Why don't you push the 'Yes' button first? Then I'll try to answer your question."

Jaune nodded and then pushed on button with great hesitation. He looked up at Ruby and saw the words above her head. "… So is this some kind of support Semblance? Like a game?"

Ruby sighed. "Yeah… you and Yang had the same reaction…"

Jaune shrugged. "I'm a pretty accepting guy. I… I was told that's one of my best qualities. So… it like a game? With levels and stuff?"

Ruby nodded. "Skills too. It's a gift of mine."

Jaune smiled. "Is it your Semblance?"

Ruby thought for a minute and shrugged. "I really don't know at this point."

Jaune nodded as well. "Well… I might have a **Status** screen t-" He paused as he looked at his stats. "… Huh. My physicals are at ten, LUK and INT at 15, and WIS at 20." He looked up at Ruby. "Is that normal?"

Ruby shrugged again. I don't know. But I'm surprised that you know about stats."

Jaune chuckled as he stood. "Well, when you grow up with seven sisters, you have to find an escape in something. So… do I have **Skills** to or… oh. That… explains a bit."

Ruby tilted her head. "Explains what?"

"Well… my **[Dance]** skill is at level 80."

Ruby had to cover her mouth up to to yell. "W-Why do you all get really good skills?!"

Jaune shrugged this time. "I was always good at dancing. So… this can help me get stronger? Blend in better?"

Ruby nodded. "Yep! Well, maybe. Once I find dungeons for us to clear, it'll be better, but yeah. You have stat points and HP and all that cool stuff!"

Jaune nodded with a smile. He then froze up. "S-So! What's weapon did you bring?"

Ruby smirked. "I got this thing!" She unfurled Crescent Rose right in front of Jaune and slammed it into the ground, still not really strong enough to hold her baby in the air.

Jaune stumbled back. "W-Woah! Is… Is that a scythe?"

Ruby nodded with a smile. "She's also a customizable, high impact, sniper rifle!"

Jaune tilted his head a bit. "A-A what…?"

Ruby cocked Crescent Rose, loading it. And also making her point."It's also a gun."

Jaune stared at Crescent Rose for a bit. "That's so cool!" He then began to examine bits of it, even though he had no idea what he was looking for.

Ruby chuckled. "So, what do you have?"

Jaune flinched. "O-Oh. I… have this sword!"

Ruby quickly **[Observed]** it.

 **Crocea Mors (Sword)**

 **An ancient weapon passed down throughout the ages of the Arc family. The blade has been used to cut down countless enemies, carving it's name into history.**

 **30 - 50 damage**

 **\+ 5% critical chance**

 **\+ 50% damage increase when wielded by an Arc**

 **\+ 20% critical chance when wielded by an Arc**

 **\- 200% durability degradation when wielded by an Arc**

' _As soon as I get the chance, I am sharpening and upgrading Crescent Rose!'_ "Ooo~!" Ruby gazed at the sword, amazed at the potential of the weapon.

Jaune smiled. "Y-Yeah! I got a shield too!" He took the sheath of the blade off of his hip and hooked it to the back of his left hand. He flicked his wrist a bit and it expanded into a shield. Ruby **[Observed]** that too.

 **Crocea Mors (Shield)**

 **An ancient weapon passed down throughout the ages of the Arc family. The shield has been used to deflect countless dangers, saving hundreds of thousands of lives.**

 **Blocks 50 - 65 damage**

 **\+ 50% blocking efficiency when wielded by an Arc**

 **\- 400% durability degradation when wielded by an Arc**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

Ruby hummed a bit. "So, what do they do?" She lightly tapped the front of the shield, causing it to retract suddenly and shoot up into the air.

Jaune yelped and struggled to catch it, and then chuckled sheepishly when it fell to the ground. He placed it on the back of his hand again. "W-Well, the shield gets smaller, so… when I get tired of carrying it, I can just… put it away."

Ruby thought for a minute, then smiled. "But doesn't it weigh the same?"

Jaune slumped over. "Yeah. It does…"

Ruby chuckled again. "W-Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics! Plus, its stats are amazing! I mean, your shield had a 400% reduction in durability loss when used by you!"

Jaune perked up a little. "R-Really?"

Ruby nodded. "Yep! And, if you want to get stronger, then just tell me and we'll go hunting grim with my sister Yang! She's the blonde one who you probably saw running by!"

Jaune nodded a bit. "Yeah… I think I saw her run by. But yeah. I'd like that Ruby. I mean, us outcasts gotta stick together, right?"

"Right!"

 **You have gained the ally: Jaune Arc**

 **While partied with Jaune Arc, you gain x2 EXP increase to all Healing and Buffing skill training.**

"Cool!"

Jaune tilted his head. "What's cool?"

Ruby looked around again. "Well, whenever I'm partied with you, I get double EXP for healing and buffing skills!"

Jaune blinked. "Really? Does that mean that I'd be good at that stuff?"

Ruby nodded. "Yep. With Yang, I get a bonus to STR training and punching things. Oh yeah. You can train your stats separately too."

"By doing pushups?"

Ruby nodded. "Kinda. I'll explain once we get to the auditorium." She then looked around. "You… do know where that is, right?"

Jaune shrugged. "I was following you."

Ruby's eyes widened. "Oh no…"

* * *

Ruby and Jaune were panting heavily as the arrived at the auditorium. Apparently the speech hadn't started yet.

"Hey! Ruby! Over here!"

Ruby looked over at the voice and saw Yang waving at her.

"I saved you a spot!"

Ruby smiled and looked at Jaune. "Hey, that's my sister calling! Want to meet her?"

Jaune looked a little nervous and then nodded. "Err… s-sure. She won't kill me, will she?"

Ruby started laughing. "Only if you touch her hair!" She then started walking towards her sister with Jaune in tow.

Yang saw Jaune and then smirked. Once her sister and the blonde kid got over, Jaune was already shivering, so Yang smirked. "Well well sis~ Got another recruit for our little party huh~? And he's kinda cute to~!"

Ruby groaned with a smile. "Yang, no killing. He's a lower level then either of us so we need to help him out."

"Aww… fine." Yang looked at Jaune and then smiled. "I'm Yang Xiao Long. And yes, they're real~"

Jaune blushed immediately. "I-I'm Jaune Arc! How do you do!"

Yang began to snicker. "Oh, he's going to be fun to tease!" She then looked at Ruby. "Oh yeah. I can't see the names and titles of people anymore, so I think that you kicked me out of the party."

Jaune hummed a bit. "Maybe she can only have one created at a time?" He then looked at Yang's level and gawked.

Yang smirked again. "Checkin' out my level, eh Jaune~?"

Jaune blushed again. "I-I-I-"

Yang laughed hard. "O-Oh! You're too easy Jaune!"

Ruby sighed. " **Dissolve Party. Create Party: Stop teasing Jaune Yang. Invite Yang Xiao Long** and **Jaune Arc.** "

Yang pouted at the name as she accepted the invite. "Fine…I'll stop. For now."

Jaune sighed in relief as he accepted his invite. "Thanks Ruby… I don't really know how much of that I could've taken."

Yang then looked around and hummed a bit. "Hey… aren't you two a little under leveled for this place?"

Ruby smirked as she placed a hand on her hip. "Stats are what really matter Yang. Besides! Jaune and I have a little bit of time to catch up before initiation! We'll be fi-"

"You!"

Ruby jumped into Yang's arms. "Yang save me!"

Weiss glared at Ruby. "You do realize that we're lucky that we weren't blown off of a cliff!"

Yang whispered in Ruby's ear. "Who's the crabby girl? Well, more like why is she here?"

"Look! It was an accident! My sister Yang spun me around a lot when she ditched me, I got dizzy, and I fell! I didn't know that your luggage was there!"

Weiss groaned. "It doesn't matter! You endangered our lives! So don't you have anything to say?!"

Ruby thought for a minute. "I'm… sorry…"

Weiss looked like she wanted a better answer.

Ruby then groaned. "Fine. I'm sorry for nearly blowing us up from you throwing Dust in my face! Happy?!"

Weiss groaned loudly. "You dolt! I did not throw Dust in your face!"

"No, you didn't. You just shook a glass container of Dust in my face like you were seasoning a meal! Then again, I don't think that you've prepared your own meals in your life, so… you were just throwing Dust in my face! Again, it's you're fault for using glass instead of metal! Are you too spoiled to use normal containers like the rest of us?!"

Weiss sputtered a bit, trying to think of a comeback to what Ruby said, but she couldn't think of any. So she just made a defiant noise and turned away.

Yang snickered at the encounter. "W-Wow Ruby! I didn't know you could be so ruthless!"

Ruby blinked a bit and immediately felt bad. "Y-Yeah… I didn't either…"

There was a bit of loud feedback as Ozpin cleared his throat. "I'll keep this brief." He adjusted his glasses and looked at the crowd. And in each teenager he saw in the crowd, he saw incredible potential. His gaze fell on Ruby for a moment, then addressed the crowd again. "You have traveled here today in the search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you finished, you planned to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But…" He sipped his coffee. "When I look amongst you, all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." Ozpin adjusted his glasses again as he looked directly at Ruby. "It is up to you to take the first step."

As Ozpin stepped away from the mic, Glynda took his place. "You will all gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready." She walked away, following Ozpin.

Yang cleared her throat a bit. "Well, he seemed kinda off."

Ruby nodded. "It was almost like he wasn't even there."

Before anyone could say anything else, Glynda walked up to Ruby. "Miss Rose. Professor Ozpin would like to see you."

Ruby blinked, and then nodded. "O-Okay." She turned to follow her new teacher and looked back at Yang and Jaune. "I'll be back soon! Yang, don't break him!"

Yang waved at Ruby. "No promises sis~!"

Jaune yelled at Ruby. "Please don't take to long!" He was afraid of Yang.

Ruby looked up at Glynda. "S-So… Professor Goodwitch… Did Professor Ozpin say why he wanted to see me?"

Glynda nodded. "Yes, though it is not something that can be discussed out loud. You will accompany me to the main tower of Beacon."

Ruby nodded, a bit nervous. SHe was going to the headmaster's office on the first day she was here. Did she do something wrong?"

The rest of the trip was in silence, seeing as Glynda didn't want to talk much. As they approached the tower, Ruby gazed up in silence at just how large it really was. They entered the tower and Glynda called an elevator.

Ruby looked down at her feet and then glanced at Glynda. "S-So… it's a… nice day out."

Glynda stared at the elevator door. Expression unchanging. "It certainly is."

Ruby nodded and looked back down at the floor. "Why a riding crop?"

Glynda looked at Ruby. "Excuse me?"

Ruby looked up at Glynda. "Why do you use a riding crop? There have to be other things that are better focuses then that."

Glynda huffed a bit. "Well, if you must know, I use it because the handle is hollow, so I can store Dust in it to manipulate different elements at will."

Ruby hummed a bit. "So… you're kinda like the Maidens? How you control the elements?"

Glynda nodded. "Precisely. I see that you've been studying since our last conversation."

Ruby chuckled. "W-Well, I didn't want to be caught off guard and all… but I thought that the Maidens were just a legend!"

Glynda stayed silent at that, possibly with a bit of pride as the doors opened. She quickly stepped inside and placed her Scroll on a black panel. The panel scanned Glynda's Scroll and the elevator closed as soon as Ruby stepped inside. The elevator rose at an extreme speed for an elevator and after ten minutes of silence, a dinging sound was heard and the doors opened.

Ruby walked out of the elevator and then gasped loudly. She then ran over to the closest window and looked over the entire city of Vale and beyond. "Wow…!"

Ozpin smiled a bit at Ruby's enthusiasm and then cleared his throat. "Miss Rose. I believe that we should continue our discussion about what happened that night in Vale." He sipped his coffee and then gestured towards a chair. "Take a seat."

Ruby nodded, now embarrassed as she sat down in front of Ozpin.

Glynda placed her scroll on the desk and a hologram of a woman with brown hair and auburn eyes. "Can you see her name?"

Ruby looked above the hologram, and then shook her head. "I think I have to see them in person."

Ozpin sighed slightly. "Well, at least we've confirmed that…" He quickly composed himself. "This woman is named Amber. She is the Fall Maiden."

Ruby slowly gasped as she leaned closer to the hologram. "Woah…" She shook her head a bit and then stared at Ozpin. "What happened to her…?"

Ozpin sighed and looked at Glynda, who changed the hologram to show Amber inside of the stasis pod. "She was attacked. And from what you've told us, you know the attacker;s name. Could you tell us?"

Ruby looked at Amber again and nodded. "Her name is Cinder Fall. U-Umm… can I see Amber?"

Ozpin shook his head. "Not yet. Not until I'm sure about something." He set his full mug down on the desk and stared into Ruby's eyes. "Are you willing to give your life to protect mankind…?"

Ruby was about to respond, but Glynda interrupted. "Think hard before you answer."

Ruby sighed and nodded as she thought. After a minute, she nodded again. "Yeah. I mean, that's what being a Hunter is all about right?"

Ozpin looked over at Glynda, who groaned. He then turned back to Ruby and stood, grabbing his mug and his cane. "Come with us." He walked to the elevator on his right and waited for Ruby and Glynda to enter after him. He then scanned his Scroll on the black panel and they began to descend at an extraordinary speed.

Ruby stumbled in place because they were going so fast, then lurched over when they reached their sudden stop. The doors opened to reveal a large empty room with something in the distance. "What is this place?"

Ozpin calmly walked forward with Glynda. "Think of it… as a vault. Of sorts."

Ruby followed them as she looker around. "Okay… but what's locked up in it?" She then looked forward to see a weird contraption and words in the distance. She walked faster, then broke into a run to see who it was. She gasped in shock when she saw the words.

 **Fallen Maiden**

 **Amber**

 **LV: ?**

"What does it say Ruby?" Ozpin quickly caught up with Ruby, with Glynda in tow.

Ruby covered her mouth and began to tremble slightly, then became deathly calm. "It says, 'Fallen Maiden' Amber. Level unknown…" She slowly walked towards Amber and used **[Observe]** on her, trying to see what was wrong.

 **Name: Amber**

 **Job: Fall Maiden**

 **LV:?**

 **Title: Fallen Maiden**

 **Status Effects:**

 **Critical Condition: - 75% to all stats until recovered**

 **Shattered Soul: Unable to generate Aura or use Semblance until Aura is recovered.**

 **Maiden: x5 EXP to all Elemental Magics**

 **Torn Power: - 50% effectiveness to all Magic used until power is whole again.**

Ruby was suddenly glad that she leveled her **[Observe]** skill more. "I-I know what's wrong with her."

Ozpin hummed a bit. "Really? Do you know why she hasn't recovered?"

Ruby nodded again. "Yeah… it's a Status effect. **(Shattered Soul)**. It keeps her from generating Aura or using her Semblance until all of her aura is restored."

"And that means recovering her power?" Glynda stepped into the conversation.

Ruby shook her head. "No. Her power being stolen is something else. But I can fix the status effect on her so that she could get her Aura back. But…"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "But…?"

Ruby shook her head. "I'm not very good at it yet. I can only transfer Aura to one person, and I have to touch them."

Ozpin then smirked. "Is this one of your Skills?"

Ruby nodded a bit, then glared at Ozpin. "I didn't tell you anything about that… How did you know about it?"

Ozpin chuckled softly. "I have my ways. What I'm surprised about is that you haven't developed any magic."

Ruby sighed and sat down on the ground. "Yeah… I guess, if you know, I can talk about it… But magic isn't important! What I can do is help Amber recover if I can get the slightest bit of range on my **[Aura Transfer]** skill. Then I can charge myself up and keep going. It's exhausting, bu-"

Ozpin suddenly had a book in his hands as a green light faded quickly around him. "I believe that this might help you, Miss Rose."

Ruby took the book and a notification popped up on it.

 **You have obtained the skill book: [Aura Recovery]**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Ruby pressed the 'YES' button and the book scattered into rose petals that wrapped around her form.

 **You have gained the skill, [Aura Recovery]! Since you have experience in this skill, you have learned it at level 5!**

 **Aura Recovery** **(Passive/Active): LV: 5 EXP: 0.00%: The ability to recover Aura in battle, and at an increased rate!**

 **Passively increases Aura Regen by 5% of max Aura**

 **Converts Aura Charge rate to charge constantly, instead of once per minute.**

 **20 AP gained for each hour spent actively charging Aura**

 **Aura recovery rate doubles when used actively.**

Ruby blinked and began to charge her Aura again, and there was no pain. "What…?"

Ozpin smiled. "Someone must've instructed you how to do it, but didn't guide you through the process."

Ruby smiled and then activated **[Aura Transfer]** when she touched Ozpin's arm, surrounding them both in a red shroud, as she transferred her Aura to him at the rate of 200 AP per second. SHe was drained quickly.

 **[Aura Transfer] has gained a level!**

Ruby quickly checked the skill and saw that the range had increased to 3 meters. She smiled and then set down next to Amber's pod and began to use **[Aura Recovery]** again, recovering about 170 AP per minute.

Ozpin chuckled and then crouched down in front of Ruby. "Let me see your Scroll."

Ruby nodded with her eyes closed and then took her Scroll from her Inventory slowly, trying to keep the skill active.

 **[Aura Recovery] has gained a level!**

Ozpin opened Ruby's Scroll and placed two things in there. One was his contact information in case anything horrible began to develop, and the second was permission to Beacon Tower. "I believe that I can trust you in keeping this location a secret?"

Ruby nodded again and then began to use **[Aura Transfer]** on Amber at a rate of 90 per minute, seeing as her recovery skill leveled to increase her recharge rate. "Yeah. I mean, if I tell someone, there's the chance that Cinder could find out and kill Amber, right? Is that how it worked? If Cinder stole all of Amber's power, she would've died?"

Glynda sighed. "I cannot believe that we are entrusting this secret with a _child_ who has next to no combat experience! Ozpin, are you certain that this is the right move…?"

Ozpin looked at Glynda. "Once can never be sure of any decision until it is already made Glynda. Though, I'm sure that Miss Rose isn't one to betray one's trust."

Ruby nodded. "You can trust me. I promise."

Glynda groaned. "Forgive me for not trusting the word of a fifteen year old."

Ruby looked at Glynda. "It's fine. You don't have to trust me. But you can trust that I want to help people. Did… did that sound right?" She then panted softly as she cut **[Aura Transfer]**. "Anyways, how much Aura does she need…?"

Ozpin looked at the computer and smiled. "Well, Miss Rose, while she is nowhere near okay to come out, her Aura is no longer at 1%."

Ruby stood and looked at the computer to see that Amber now has 3% of her aura capacity. "W-What…? She has so much Aura…" She was about to activate the transfer again when Ozpin stopped her.

"I… believe that you should get back to your friends, Miss Rose. They are waiting for you." He then handed Ruby a pamphlet. "This is a map of Beacon. You'll have an easier time getting around if you have this. I neglected to give you one when I accepted you into this school.

Ruby took the map and then smiled. "Thank you Professor Ozpin! I'll come back at nights to help Amber!" She activated her Aura and her Semblance and rushed out of the vault.

Glynda sighed. "She's mature for her age. But she is still just a child! She should not be able to do some of these things safely! In fact, she probably isn't!"

Ozpin sipped at his mug and then looked at Glynda. "Do we really have a choice Glynda? Qrow told me that there have only been two other occurrences of The Gamer, and each one of them grew at an extraordinary rate. If we wish to save Amber, and take the fight back to _them_ , then we need her power."

Glynda scoffed. "So this is about her power? So what?! It doesn't mean that we should use a child!"

Ozpin sighed. "I know. But sometimes, we can't help it. Sometimes… we must do things that we aren't proud of to save everyone."

* * *

Ruby called Yang up on her Scroll as she exited the tower. "Yang! Are you still with Jaune?"

Yang quickly picked up the call. "Yep! I'm still with the weak blonde!"

Ruby smiled. "Okay good. Where are you guys?"

Yang chuckled. "We're at the training grounds! Jaune's running from me!"

Ruby blinked and then checked the map. "Which one?"

Yang let out a confused noise as a shotgun shell rang through the Scroll. "There's more then one? Okay… the one closest to the food court!"

Ruby looked at the map that Ozpin gave her. "Okay… the third one!" She then hung up and then ran towards the food court. Once she arrived, she saw a girl holding a stack of pancakes taller then she was.

 **Lightning Rod**

 **Nora Valkyrie**

 **LV: 43**

"Ren! Come get some pancakes!"

Ruby blinked and just slowly backed away like she was trying to get away from a predator. She looked at the map and saw that Training Ground #3 was to her right. She kept slowly backing away from the cafeteria and eventually bumped into someone. She turned and then chuckled. "S-Sorry!"

 **The Invincible Girl**

 **Pyrrha Nikos**

 **LV: 51**

"No, it's my fault! I wasn't watching where I was going!" Pyrrha waved her hands in front of her, trying to dissuade Ruby into apologizing.

Ruby nodded. "I-It was nice to meet you, but i have to go save my friend from my sister! If you hear gunshots near the training ground, run!" She then ran towards the training ground, drawing Crescent Rose and using her Semblance to get in close to Yang and hit her away at full force. "Yang! Stop terrorizing Jaune! We're training! Not torturing!"

Yang's grin widened as she reloaded Ember Celica. "I added some weight to my babies, so I should get some training out of punching you!"

Ruby suddenly realized the point Yang was trying to make. She folded up Crescent Rose again and rushed Yang, beginning to fight her in hand to hand combat.

Jaune looked at Ruby. "What are you doing?!"

Yang began to focus on Ruby, striking at her, not holding anything back. She flipped in the air and kicked Ruby in the face, sending her flying.

Ruby quickly recovered and ran over to Jaune. "I'll distract her! Then you rush in when her back is turned and strike at her side. Keep your shield up. You'll need it." She then rushed Yang again, attacking faster then before, going after vital areas.

Jaune nodded and raised his shield to cover himself, then waited for the opening that Ruby told him to wait for. When he saw it, he rushed forward and struck Yang in the right arm as hard as he could.

Yang turned quickly and punched Jaune's shield, sending him flying.

Ruby hit Yang with a sweeping kick and then an axe kick to knock her into the ground. She then jumped back far and pulled Crescent Rose out in its rifle form. She fired a few shots at Yang's rising form, hitting her mark and then began to run around her sister, firing of as many bullets as she could as she closed in on Yang.

 **[Rifle Mastery] has gained a level!**

Yang looked at Ruby and then grinned as she slammed her fists together, her hair beginning to glow. "It's your ass now sis!" She rushed Ruby, landing hit after hit, draining Ruby's aura fast.

Jaune ran at Yang and slammed his shield into her back, staggering her for a moment.

Yang stopped trying to hit Ruby and then looked at Jaune with a smile. She punched at his chest much faster then he could raise his shield.

Ruby pushed Jaune out of the way and barely dodged the punch. She then spun in place once to get a little momentum as she lashed out with a kick to Yang's side, knocking her in that direction. She then looked at her dress and sighed. "I'll have to invest in pants. AH!" She yelped as she was punched in the face by Yang. She was sent tumbling across the field and was stopped by the downed form of Jaune.

Yang laughed as she calmed down and pulled headphones out of her ears. She was listening to 'I Burn'. "Come on Ruby! I was listening to the theme song I picked for me! You don't fight someone when their theme song is playing! That's like, rule number 1 of fighting someone!"

Ruby slowly stood and she groaned. She then rushed Yang again and drop kicked her, hitting her very 'cushioned' chest.

 **[Unarmed Mastery] has gained a level!**

Ruby then smiled. "Yeah. I know! But I just got a level in **[Unarmed Mastery]** for drop kicking you."

Yang dusted off her chest. "Yeah, but did you have to kick me _there_?!" She then smirked and put Ruby in a headlock, and ruffled her hair. "I take pride in how good I look when I care enough to clean up!"

Jaune groaned softly as he stood. "Hey… what does it mean by **[Sword Mastery]** leveled up? I mean, it also says that I gained **[Shield Mastery]**."

Ruby got out of Yang's grasp as she turned her Semblance off. "Check your skills."

Jaune checked his skills and saw that he had a skill called **[Shield Mastery]** and that his **[Sword Mastery]** skill had progressed to level five. "Huh. So is this with all swords?" He swung Crocea Mors as a test, and it felt more natural then it was before the battle.

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe?" She then looked around. "I haven't gotten a chance to test out other rifles."

Yang shrugged. "Oh who cares! Now let's get back to punching each other!" She threw a vicious punch at Jaune, which he blocked with his shield.

"Oh come on!" Jaune actually rolled back with the punch and skidded backwards on his feet. "W-Woah… what?"

Ruby groaned and then turned her Semblance on again and began to attack Yang from all sides, not pausing for a second as she ran around Yang and hit her with attacks whenever she got the chance, while also using her rose petals from her Semblance to blind her somewhat.

Jaune shook his head and rushed Yang, who had just clotheslined Ruby. He slashed at her ankles and rolled forward to hit her with a rising slash that propelled him to his feet. He then glanced to his right and jumped back as Ruby took his spot and hit Yang in the jaw with an uppercut, sending her into the air slightly with her boosted stats. Jaune nodded at Ruby and he ran towards her and jumped into the air, allowing Ruby to boost him high enough to slash at Yang, accelerating her descent into the ground slightly.

Yang flipped in the air and landed on her feet with a smirk. "Okay. Now I'm having fun!" Her eyes turned red and her hair began to glow again.

Ruby's eyes widened. "Jaune! Stay back!" She drew Crescent Rose in its scythe form and fired off a gunshot, propelling her towards her sister and hooking her neck. She yelled as she fired off another shot and sent Yang flying. Ruby spun in the air a bit as she landed, kicking up dust around her.

Yang just hummed as she flew through the air. ' _Well, if they're using their weapons…'_ She unleashed her other Ember Celica and then fired two shots behind her to stop her and then fired two more shots to propel her forward at Ruby, grinning. SHe cocked her fist back and fired off a shot at Ruby.

Jaune slid in front of Ruby and blocked the Dust shell with his shield. He was panting heavily. "O-Okay… I think that I'm done for now…"

Ruby nodded and peeked past Jaune. "Yang! Jaune can't keep going! We should stop!"

Yang pouted a bit as she flipped onto her feet and stumbled a bit as she slowed her self down. "Fine… lightweight."

Jaune looked at his hands and could feel the improvement in his skills. "Wow… so that's what happens when you get a skill…?"

Ruby nodded. "Yep! But I think that we should probably get to the ballroom. I'm tired…"

Jaune suddenly slumped over. "Oh good… I'm not the only one…! Lead the way Ruby!"

* * *

Ruby was writing a letter as she laid down on her sleeping bag. She figured that maybe sneaking out on her first day to help Amber isn't the best move when she can easily do it tomorrow.

Yang sighed as she began to fall onto her sleeping bag. "It's like a big slumber party!"

Ruby nodded with a smile. "I… don't think that dad would approve of all the boys though."

Yang suddenly had a lecherous look on her face. "Well I know _I_ do~" She made a purring noise as she eyed the shirtless boys in the room.

Jaune was about to walk by casually in his onesie, but looked over to see Yang eyeballing the other guys. He sighed a bit and then walked over to Ruby and Yang. "Hey guys!"

Yang looked at Jaune and tried not to laugh her ass off. "W-What are you wearing?!"

Jaune looked down at his pajamas. "What? My onesie? What's wrong with it?"

Yang just kept snickering and then shook her head. "N-Nothing! Nothing! I-It's just… a-aren't you a little old to be wearing that?!"

Jaune looked down at his onesie again. "I am? My parents told me that these were perfectly fine!"

Yang actually began to laugh at that. "W-When did they tell you that?! When you were nine?!"

Jaune looked like he was about to retort, but then looked down. "Y-Yeah."

Yang began to laugh as harder then she thought she could at school, stopping occasionally to look at Jaune, then laughing again"

Ruby shook her head with a smile. "Yang. Stop teasing Jaune. It's not his fault that his parents never corrected his choice in pajamas."

Yang just… couldn't stop laughing.

Jaune sighed and then saw Ruby writing something. "Hey. What's that?"

Ruby sighed happily. "It's a letter to my friends back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon in the Scroll message I sent them on the ship."

Yang stopped laughing when she heard Ruby and then hugged her sister. "That's so cute~~!"

Ruby pushed Yang off of her. "Knock it off! I didn't get to bring my friends with me to school! It's really weird not knowing anyone here…"

Yang smiled. "Well what about Jaune and Velvet! They're nice. There you go! Plus two friends!"

Ruby smiled a bit "Yeah… oh, and then there's Coco. I met her on the airship. She's kinda like you Yang. So that's three, I guess." She sighed again.

Yang frowned a bit. "Look. It's only been one day. Trust me. You have friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"

Jaune blinked. "Huh. My mom says that all the time."

Ruby stared up at the ceiling and heard a match strike. She looked up at whoever struck the match and saw that it was Blake. "That girl…"

Yang looked at her. "What? Do you know her?"

Ruby shook her head. "Not really… But she saw what happened this morning. I didn't get a chance to talk to her though."

Yang grabbed Ruby's wrist and then dragged her to her feet. "Well now's your chance!"

"W-Wait! What are you doing?!"

Blake heard some form of choking and she looked up to see a blonde girl dragging a black haired girl.

"Hello~~~~~~!" Yang dragged Ruby over to Blake, waving at the girl in black. She let go of her sister's wrist and smiled at Blake. "I believe you two know each other!"

Blake looked up at Yang, and then glanced at Ruby. "… Aren't you the girl who almost blew up in front of the school?"

Ruby turned to look at Blake. "U-Uhh… yeah. My name's Ruby!" She held her hand out to Blake, and when Blake didn't shake hers, she just chuckled sheepishly as she drew her hand behind her head.

Blake looked back at her book. "Okay…?"

Yang kept the grin she was wearing up. She leaned in and whispered to Ruby. "What are you doing?!"

Ruby whispered back. "I don't know help me!"

Yang chuckled and looked at Blake. "So! What's your name?" She already knew it, but it was to start a conversation.

Blake glanced up at Yang, slightly annoyed. "…Blake."

Yang's grin became a smile. "Well Blake, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister!" When she got no response she glanced at Blake's bow and then looked back at the girl. "I like your bow!"

"Thanks."

"It goes great with your… pajamas!" Yang knew that she was losing this battle.

Blake absently turned a page on her book. "Rrrright."

Yang and Ruby glanced at each other, before Yang spoke again. "Nice night, isn't it?"

Blake looked up at the sisters, suppressing the urge to sigh. "Yes. It's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book." Seeing as the two in front of her weren't going to say anything, she continued. "…Which I will continue to read…" She just got the looks again. "…as soon as you leave"

Yang chuckled again and then sighed. "Yeah. This girl's a lost cause."

Ruby stepped forward slightly. "W-What's it about?"

Blake looked into Ruby's eyes accidentally. "Huh?"

Ruby looked at the book and saw that it had no name. "Your book. What's it about?"

Blake seemed surprised that Ruby was interested in her book. "W-Well… it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

' _Is that what Ozpin goes through…? He didn't seem like he had that problem…'_

Yang looked away, trying hard not to roll her eyes. "Oh yeah, that's… real lovely."

Ruby ignored Yang as she stepped forward again. "I love books. When I was a kid, Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters… and the occasional fairy tale. It's… part of the reason why I wanted to become a Huntress."

Blake scoffed a tiny bit under her breath. "Why is that? Hoping that you'll live happily ever after?"

Ruby suddenly became nervous. She hated being put on the spot. "W-Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a kid, I wanted to be like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right, and protected those who can't protect themselves."

Blake blinked and slowly lowered her book. "That's… very ambitious for a child. Sadly… the real world… isn't the same as a fairy tail."

Ruby slowly smirked, knowing that she had broken past Blake's defensive wall of books. "Well, that's why we're here. To make the world a better place."

Yang was about to hug Ruby, but her sister sent her a look that said 'Don't'. She did it anyways. "I'm so proud of my baby sister!"

Ruby just let the hug happen, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get out of it.

Blake smiled the slightest bit. "Well, Ruby, Yang, it's a pleasure t-"

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you know that some of us are trying to sleep?!"

Weiss and Yang looked at each other in the eyes and pointed, with Yang dropping Ruby. "Oh not YOU again!"

Ruby shushed Weiss and Yang. "Guys, she's right, people are trying to sleep!"

Weiss turned to glare at Ruby. "Oh, so _now_ you're on my side!"

Ruby groaned. "I'm not on anyone's side! And… nope. Not going to make this worse." She stepped away and then sat down next to Blake. "I'm sorry that we disturbed your reading."

 **For not aggravating the conflict between a hot head and an ice queen, you have gained +1 WIS!**

Blake tilted her book away from Ruby, blushing slightly. "I-It's fine. I'm just glad to see a fellow book lover here."

Ruby got confused and then used **[Observe]** on Blake's book.

 **Ninjas of Love Vol. 1**

 **No shadows can conceal the lust of one enigma for long…**

 **This is Volume 1 of the Ninjas of Love series, a story about-... something that isn't appropriate for an Observation. Apparently...**

Ruby snickered a bit, blushing. "D-Don't worry! I won't tell that you're reading that book on one condition."

Blake blinked and nodded. "What's the condition?"

"Can you point me to where I can get my own copy?"

Blake snickered a bit. "I-I think you're a little young to buy this."

Ruby pouted a bit, then looked at the shouting match between Weiss and Yang. She groaned and then snatched the candelabra. "Sorry Blake." Sne then blew out the candles, shutting both Yang and Weiss up somehow.

* * *

 **Okay… sorry about the late Chapter you guys, but I'm finally okay to work on my other fan fics again. Well, until volume 5 of RWBY comes out.**

 **Ash: Finally. Are you going to let me and my friends progress now?**

 **Yes Ash. You and your team will be leaving Viridian in the next chapter that I post of your story. Anyways, I'll see you all later!**


	5. Madness Begins

**Heya guys. So, I'm back. Sorry about that. I don't have anything to really say other than the others are too busy being...them to show up, so yeah. There's only one review that I can really respond to so…**

 **Saint of vice koncor: Oh no. No no no no no. Ninjas of love is definitely not a ninja or martial arts skill book! I'll just leave it at that.**

 **So...yeah. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Speech"

'Scroll Message'

' _Thought'_

 **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

Ruby woke up with a groan and saw two windows. The first one was the one she sees every time she wakes up, and the second one was about her mana.

 **MP (Mana Points) have been added to your Character Sheet! These can be increased through raising your INT! Your Regen can be increased the same way, however, every 30 points in WIS you have, your regen is increased by a single percentage of your Max MP!**

Ruby mumbled to herself. "So there _is_ a physical use for WIS. Cool…" She stretched as she sat up on her sleeping bag. Apparently she didn't even bother to get inside of the camping thing. Her sluggishness faded immediately as she looked around to see that no one was really awake yet, so she stored her sleeping bag and equipped her normal clothes. Just in time too, because she heard someone wake up.

"Waaake up lazy bud!"

Ruby looked over and saw Nora hovering over the waking Ren.

Ren sighed as he sat up.

Nora somehow began to flash around Ren. "It's morning! It's morning! It's morning! It's morning~!"

Ruby smiled and left the ballroom before anything really bad happened. She walked through the campus and pulled her map and navigated herself towards Beacon Tower. She looked at the quest she had gotten and wondered why it hadn't been completed yet.

 **(Fall of Grimm 2)**

 **Fallen Maiden**

 **Main Objective: Discover the fate of the Fall Maiden**

 **Side Objective: Heal the Fall Maiden**

 **Main Rewards: 3000 EXP, 5000 Lien, Information on Cinder Fall**

 **Side Rewards: Ally: Fall Maiden gained, Significantly increases standing with all parties associated with the Fall Maiden.**

 **Failure: Death of the Fall Maiden, Fall of Beacon***

 ***depends on time of failure if it occurs**

' _Maybe I need specifics? I know that Cinder attacked her, but… oh! I have to be a detective! I'm going to have an amazing ad- …Focus Ruby. There's a person that needs your help. You're the only one who can do this.'_ Ruby slapped her cheeks a bit as she entered Beacon Tower. She saw that no one was around, so she walked into the elevator and swiped her scroll against the black panel and proceeded down into the vault. She hummed a bit on the ride down, making her own elevator music. Once the doors opened, she ran over to Amber to see Ozpin already standing there, a faint emerald glow around him with a stream connecting him to Amber.

Ozpin looked over at Ruby like he was expecting her. "Ah. Miss Rose. I didn't expect to see you here this early. Initiation isn't for another few hours."

Ruby panted softly as she stood next to Ozpin. "Well… hah… sorry, long hallway… I told you that you can trust me to help people. I'm also here because I missed last night. Couldn't slip away. Also I had to sleep to let my Mana settle."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow as he sipped at his coffee. "You have access to Mana now as well? Does that mean that you can utilize magic just like the Maidens now?"

Ruby thought for a second as she activated **[Aura Transfer]** at a rate of 97 AP per minute. "Well, I guess? Not right away, and it's not like I have control over the elements. But I got something else the night I survived Cinder. An affinity to the Wind and Fire elements."

Ozpin nearly choked on his coffee at that, but he hid it very well. "That means that you have the potential to use Fire and Wind spells?"

Ruby nodded as she watched her AP very slowly tick down as she was only losing .1 point of AP per minute. She had to stay fresh for the initiation after all. "I dunno. The other ones are locked, so… probably? I'd have to test it, but right now, they're at Stage 0, so I can't use elemental spells right now. Maybe. I haven't figured it all out just yet so I'm really curious about how it'll work an-" She took another deep breath and then sighed. "How is she?"

Ozpin sighed. "Well, her Aura levels went down again, but that's be cause it was expended on repairing her body. I haven't been able to come down here all that much because of very obvious reasons, and I've only been able to give her enough Aura to keep her alive. Though daily visits are more effective than bi-weekly visits. You would be helping her recover much faster. Can you check her status effects for me? I doubt that they've changed, but I would just like confirmation."

Ruby nodded and then **Observed** Amber to see that her status had not changed at all. She was still in critical condition, and she still couldn't produce Aura. Ruby sighed. "She's the same. How badly was she hit to be put into this state?"

Ozpin glanced over at Ruby and then sighed as he cut his Aura transfer to the Fallen Maiden. "That is not for me to tell, Miss Rose, however, if you can get her to speak of it if she recovers, then that will be Amber's decision." He checked his scroll for a timer and then messaged Glynda to prepare the forest. "Unfortunately, I have to go prepare your Initiation into the school Miss Rose. You have roughly two hours to arrive at the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Do try to make it on time." A sphere of ethereal, emerald colored gears appeared around Ozpin in a semi-spherical shape with a clock at his feet. He then disappeared in what was likely a burst of speed, seeing as Ruby's cloak was blown back from the wind created by him.

Ruby sighed softly as she sat down next to Amber's pod, the transfer still active. "It must suck, being stuck in that pod all day huh…?"

There was no visible response from the unconscious Maiden.

Ruby looked up at Amber. "I bet that you're a really nice lady, seeing as you were chosen to be a superhero, pretty much. I wonder how it works… the whole Maiden selection process. Was the power given to you? Because you can't be the first Fall Maiden."

Amber's pinky twitched ever so slightly.

Ruby sighed. "Guess that's kinda personal huh?" She opened her scroll and set an alarm for an hour and thirty minutes. She set the scroll on the ground and then smiled as she stood. She looked into Amber's pod and stared at Amber's closed eyes. "I'm Ruby. I'd shake your hand, but you're a little… busy. I'm trying to heal you up, just like Ozpin is trying to… can you even hear me?"

Amber's pinky twitched again.

Ruby gasped softly. "Y-You're awake?! S-Should I tell Ozpin?"

Amber's pinky twitched twice.

"So...is it one twitch for yes, two for no?"

Amber's pinky twitched again.

Ruby sighed softly. "Well… it's a start. So… did Cinder do this to you? A woman with black hair and a red dress?"

One twitch.

Ruby nodded softly. She already knew that from their titles, but she needed to be sure. "Okay… umm… was she alone?"

Two twitches.

' _She wasn't alone… This woman ruined Amber's life… over what?'_ "U-Umm… one last thing, I'm not sure if you can answer this or not, but… did she use something weird to take your power?"

One twitch.

"Okay… thank you so much Amber. I'll let you rest up more so that your body can heal. I'm glad to see that you're making progress though!" Ruby patted the pod gently. "I better get going though. I have to get to initiation. I'm going to become a student of Beacon today!" She ran off at a slow pace, trying not to exhaust herself before the test.

 **[Aura Transfer] has gained a level!**

 **You may now transfer Aura to 2 targets!**

Ruby nodded and saw that the upgrade to the skill would be useful on the test, as well as her eyes. If they're going into the forest, then it's obvious that there are going to be Grimm. She entered the elevator and rode it up to the main floor. "Hmm… I wonder… if I can transfer and regenerate Aura, could I sense it as well? That'd be cool for support!" ' _It'll also help me to see if Cinder is around.'_ She then pulled out her map and looked for where a cliff was. There were four.

"That would take too long. I can't run around the campus or I'll be late." She hummed in thought, then smiled as she rode the elevator up to Ozpin's office. She had access to it, so why not? Once she arrived up at the top of the tower, she looked out the windows. "Okay… where's a forest? There's Vale, that's an ocean, oh! Forest! And that's the… east side?" She checked her map just to be sure, then smirked when she saw a small slit on the window. She walked over to it thinking that it was a door. It was… a coffee machine. Ruby sighed. "Okay… elevator it is. Again."

* * *

Ozpin looked over the line of students that were standing on metal squares on the cliff. "For years, you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda took over for Ozpin when he had a smirk on his face. "Now I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates." Her eyes narrowed into a glare. " _Today_."

Ruby's eyes widened a bit but she wasn't really all that surprised when she thought about it for a second. No meer students could get through a Grimm infested place alone.

Ozpin sipped his coffee a bit and turned his gaze to the students again. These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon. So it is in your best interests to be paired with someone you can work well with."

Ruby and Yang bumped their fists together. Yang was really rubbing off on her sister.

Ozpin smirked again. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Ruby and Yang both froze in fear. You could practically hear their hopes shatter.

Nora smiled as she looked at Ren. "See! I told you that this would happen!"

Ren looked at Nora, still seemingly exhausted, but with a smile on his face. "No, you said that the two with the highest Grimm kill count would get paired together, then the next two, then the next two."

Nora scoffed playfully. "Same thing!"

"Once you have partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest." Ozpin was interrupted by a loud string of howls. "You will encounter… opposition… along the way." He sipped his coffee. "Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your way…" He adjusted his glasses to make his point. "Or you will die."

Jaune chuckled nervously, then gulped down his stomach contents that were threatening to come back up.

Ruby placed a comforting hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Don't worry, I have a mini map. I think I can find you or Yang fairly quickly if it doesn't go away because I don't know the area…"

Jaune sighed in relief. "… W-Wait it can go away?"

Ozpin continued his instructions like nothing happened. "You will be monitored and graded throughout the duration of this test, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune raised his hand. "Yeah. Umm… sir-"

"Good! Now, take your positions."

All of the potential hunters in training readied themselves for what they all suspected was going to happen, except for Jaune. "U-Umm sir? I've got a question."

Weiss smirked in superiority as she was launched into the forest.

Jaune gulped. "S-So, this landing strategy thing… w-what exactly is it? Y-You're like dropping us off or something?"

Ozpin looked at Jaune. "No. You will be falling."

Jaune became increasingly more afraid by the second. "S-So, did you, say, hand out parachutes to us?"

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy."

Nora cheered in glee as she was launched from the cliff.

"U-Uh huh… yeah…"

Yang looked at Ruby and winked before putting her sunglasses on and cocking her shot gauntlets. She cheered as she was launched.

Ruby looked at Jaune, and was about to say something reassuring to him, when she was launched as well.

Jaune saw this and began to shiver for whatever reason. "So… um… what exactly is a landing strateGYYYYY-" His words trailed off into a scream as he was flung from the cliff as well.

Ozpin turned to look at the flying students and sipped his coffee with a look of contentedness on his face.

Ruby smirked as she flew through the air. She activated her Semblance and then spun out of the way of a bird. She deactivated her power and then unfurled her scythe to catch onto a branch. She spun around it and slashed through the branch accidentally, then activated her Semblance again to land perfectly on the ground. "Huh. I expected a-" A notification popped up at the edge of her vision. "Oh there it is."

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **Welcome to Beacon!**

 **Main Objective 1: Find your partner**

 **Main Objective 2: Find the temple and select a relic**

 **Main Objective 3: Return to the Cliff**

 **Main Objective 4: Arrive at your team placement**

 **Side Objective 1: Become a Teammate with an ally**

 **Side Objective 2: Slay 15 Beowolves**

 **Side Objective 3: Slay ?**

 **Failure: End of Hunter Career, Possible Death, Possible crippling injury**

 **This Quest cannot be refused.**

Ruby sighed and began to walk through the forest. She heard shotgun blasts above her, quickly fading away. "Well, at least I know where to find Yang." She heard a growling behind her and turned towards it slowly, her silver eyes glinting menacingly in the light. It was a stray Beowolf. Likely a scout. "Hi there." She slashed at it, the blade hooking onto the Grimm's neck and pinning it to the ground. "So, are there any more of you around?" She saw that it was about to let out a howl, so she fired her rifle, decapitating it. "Can't have you call any over if there are." She turned and then froze as she made eye contact with… Weiss. "Oh Oum…"

Weiss stared at Ruby for a minute, then huffed as she walked away.

"W-Wait!" Ruby chased after her. "We're supposed to be teammates!" She growled and then used her Semblance to get in front of Weiss. "Look, I don't like you, and you don't really don't like me. But we're going to be on the same team regardless of whatever else happens! So do you think that we can set our differences aside and start over? We're probably going to have to if we'll make it out of here alive."

Weiss seemed to consider her options for a moment, then groaned. "Fine. Fine! Why not?"

Ruby cheered and then held out her hand. "Okay then! Hi! I'm Ruby Rose! And this is just us, so no titles, okay? We aren't at a party or something."

Weiss groaned at Ruby's childishness and then took her hand and shook it briefly. "Weiss Schnee. But, just know that if you get in my way from getting out of this god forsaken forest, I will leave you behind immediately for someone better."

Ruby nodded and looked around to see a pack of Beowolves surrounding them, ten of them by her count. "Well, why don't we start working on our teamwork now? You do glyphs right?"

Weiss stepped into a very rigid and practiced battle stance. "I see you've done some reading since last night. What can you do?"

Ruby cocked her rifle and smirked. "I move fast and scatter things." She rushed forward as she activated her Semblance, firing a Gravity dust round right past Weiss's head, hitting a Beowolf in the forehead. The bullet propelled her forward and she slashed through the body of the Grimm in front of her.

Weiss, having studied strategy before, knew just what Ruby did, so she rushed the stunned Grimm and hit it with a quick succession of thrusts, then stabbed it in the eye. She retreated quickly and spun the revolving chamber on her rapier to where the yellow dust was 'selected'. She used that to create a yellow glyph under the Beowolves in front of her, making lightning shoot up from the ground.

Ruby turned to see the effect of Dust, then remembered that book she had in her Inventory. ' _Not the time.'_ She quickly turned to glare at the Beowolf that was about strike her, making it flinch. She then kicked it in the place where its ribs should be, knocking it into another Beowolf. She hooked both of their necks and decapitated them, their corpses immediately beginning to dissolve into rose petals. She looked back over to Weiss, then rushed towards her when she saw the Schnee Heiress hesitate when a Grimm pounced at her. She pushed Weiss out of the way and then ducked under the Grimm. She spun around and slammed the tip of her scythe into the spine of the Beowolf.

"What are you doing? Are you asking to get hurt?!" She pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose, which caused her to fly forward. She spun in the air and slammed her scythe down onto the nearest Grimm. The momentum yanked her from her scythe and sent her into the air. Ruby looked to the right to see a Beowolf actually trying to pounce at her from the trees. She flowed around the Grimm and kicked it towards Weiss.

Weiss growled from frustration and then slashed through the lycan Grimm that was flying towards her. "Me?! What are _you_ doing?! You allowed yourself to get disarmed!" She spun the chamber again, with it landing on red dust. She swiped her rapier to her side, burning the two remaining Grimm. "Are you insane?! What would you have done if I wasn't here?!"

Ruby landed on the shaft of her scythe casually as she turned her Semblance off. "Pretty sure I would've kicked that Grimm away and then grabbed my baby when I landed. Then I would've killed the rest. Why did you hesitate?"

Weiss seemed insulted. "I did _not_ hesitate! I was waiting for it to come closer so I could kill it!"

Ruby hummed a bit as she pulled Crescent Rose out of the ground. "Pretty sure that obvious flinch and the blade being lowered is hesitating. What was with that? Did a pack of those things attack you as a kid?"

Weiss groaned loudly as she slashed at the hurt Grimm again, killing them. "Did _that_ look like I hesitated?"

Ruby snickered. "Nope. It looks like you're trying to make a point. My sister gets mad at my dad and then does something he says she shouldn't out of defiance and anger. You even used fire like her."

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

' _But I wasn't even using it… oh! It's a passive ability too! Maybe it's a hidden effect. Whenever I successfully figure out what's going on, I get EXP for it! Neat!_ ' Ruby hummed a bit as she looked at the EXP gain from her kills. Not enough to get her a level, but she wasn't complaining. "Come on! You can do better than that! Right?"

Weiss's blood seemed to be boiling, but she took a deep breath like her sister always told her to do whenever she got like this. "Yes. I _am_ better than that. I can't hesitate in battle, or I'll die." She then looked around. "That said, do not _ever_ compare my life to yours!"

Ruby shrugged as she looked at her map of Beacon. "Okay. So we came in from the west, and we haven't changed direction, so we're facing east." Ruby suddenly turned left and began to walk forward.

Weiss stared at Ruby. "W-Where are you going?!"

Ruby looked back at Weiss, unaware of what she meant. "North. Let's go."

Weiss groaned as she followed Ruby, not seeing the loot left behind by Ruby's kills, or the giant black feather that landed behind the two.

* * *

Yang whooped as she flew through the air with the help of her Ember Celica. She groaned as she fell into the treeline, then cheered as she went flying out of it again. She then jumped off of the sides of a few trees and rolled on the ground, keeping her momentum. "Nailed it!" She slowed her run to a walk as she looked around. "Now, where can I find Ruby? I'm sure that she's around here somewhere." She shrugged and then turned left and started running north. "I'm sure that she'll catch up!" After a while, she groaned from boredom and began to walk again.

"Okay then, time to use the thing that I should've used before." She cleared her throat and then began to shout. "Is anyone out there? Helloooo? I'm getting bored here!" She groaned again and then turned to her right when she heard some rustling. "Is someone there?" She walked over to the bushes and then pulled them apart. "Ruby is that you?" She then heard some snarling and slowly looked up to see the white and red mask of a Grimm. "…Nope." She rolled to her left as an Ursa charged out of the bushes. "In hindsight, I can see her name above her head." She released Ember Celica again and flipped backwards out of the way of the same Ursa charging her. "Gotta get Ruby to fix the automatic closing on these babies!" She rolled back again and saw another Ursa with the first one.

Yang smirked and then reeled back as an Ursa charged her. She then punched the bear Grimm as hard as she could in its stomach, firing off her gauntlets as well, sending it flying from the explosion. She then rushed the other Ursa as it ran towards her. She hit it in its jaw so hard that she launched herself up with it. She then punched behind her and kicked the Grimm in the stomach as well, sending it into the ground. Yang landed on the ground and stared at the two Grimm that were recovering. "You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood would you?"

One of the Ursai rose onto its hind legs and roared. It then rushed Yang again.

"You could've just said no!" Yang ducked under the Ursa's claw swipe and then back flipped away from a second one. She laughed as she stared at the Grimm. "Geez! You two couldn't hit the broadside of a ba-" She stopped herself as she watched a single strand of her hair fall to the forest floor. She stared at it for a minute, then growled as she closed her eyes. "You…" Flames erupted around her as she glared at the two bear Grimm with red eyes. "YOU MONSTER!" She rushed towards the Grimm that took her hair away from her, the grass burning to nothing behind her she hit the Grimm in the face and then in its jaw, sending it flying. She shot at the ground behind her and nearly flickered in front of the flying bear as she unleashed a deadly combination of attacks, with the end of her combo blowing a very large hole into the corpse of the Ursa. She panted as she dropped onto the ground. She then turned to see the other Ursa running towards her. "WHAT?! YOU WANT SOME TOO?!"

The Ursa rose up again, then a stabbing noise came from behind it. It groaned as it fell to the ground, clearly dead. In its neck was a gun that was stabbed into it connected to a ribbon. Yang looked at the source of the ribbon to see Blake. The two made eye contact when Blake looked up. The girl in black smirked.

Yang stared at Blake through the smoke the Ursa was making from its corpse. "I could've taken it."

* * *

Jaune screamed in terror as he flailed in the air. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" He resumed his screaming until something hooked onto his hoodie and pinned him to a tree. He panted softly, then yelled again. "Thank you!" Jaune heard a very distant 'I'm sorry' from his right and he tried to pull out whatever pinned him to the tree. It was a red and gold spear. He grunted with effort as he tried really hard to pull the spear out of the tree, then sighed as he gave up and just hung there. "Someone…? Anyone…?"

* * *

Ruby was sitting on the stump of a tree that she cut down out of anger earlier. Her and Weiss killed some more Grimm earlier, but that still didn't help her. **[Gamer's Mind]** did though. ' _Why did I let her take the lead? Oh yeah! It was to get her to stop complaining.'_

Weiss walked behind Ruby to her left. "It's definitely this way." She then turned around for some reason and walked to her partner's right. "I-I mean, this way! It's _definitely_ this way." She sighed softly and then walked behind Ruby again. "It's official. We passed it."

Ruby looked behind her and stared up at Weiss. "Can't you just admit that you have no idea where you're going?"

Weiss smirked. "Because I know exactly where we're going! We're going to… the… Forest Temple."

Ruby groaned. "Fine. Do you know which direction it's in? Or how far we are from it? If you don't, then don't pretend like you do." She pulled her Scroll out and pulled up a Map application.

Weiss was about to retort, then stared at Ruby. "What… are you doing?"

"Looking at our place in the forest. I don't know if anyone else thought of this."

Weiss stared at Ruby's Scroll. "Okay, but how do you have yours? Professor Goodwitch confiscated ours when she came to take us to the cliff!"

Ruby shrugged. "I got there on my own. I guess she didn't bother to take mine. Okay… I can see us, and there's a clearing to our right. That might be where it is." Ruby put away her Scroll to save battery life. "Let's go!" She jumped into a tree and began to travel that way, seeing as she didn't want to be ambushed.

Weiss groaned again and then hopped into the trees as well. "Why are we in the trees? Wouldn't it be easier to just walk?"

Ruby stopped. "Well, yeah, but then we can be ambushed by Grimm again. Like the last _three times_. No. We're taking the trees. If your feet start to hurt, we can take a break." She then jumped to the next branch, and yelped when the jump came up a little short as she fell to the ground. "Ow…"

Weiss scoffed as she jumped down from the tree. "Any more bright ideas?"

Ruby hummed a bit and then saw a large shadow pass her and Weiss. She looked up to see a Giant Nevermore. Though it's level and title were hidden because she was below it, she knew what it was. She looked back at Weiss and smirked.

* * *

Yang hummed a bit as she walked around the forest with Blake. She was honestly bored. "Okay… I am _soooo_ bored! You have anything on you that can help?"

Blake sighed. "You know that Professor Goodwitch confiscated our scrolls. Well, she took my book as well. It's like she left us with only our equipment."

Yang groaned loudly. "Man! Why isn't there anything cool here?! These are all small fry that I've killed with my sister before!"

Blake's eyes widened. "What was that? You've hunted Grimm before?"

Yang nodded. "Yeeeah…? I mean there was also this one time where she and I stopped some drunk guys from killing a group of Faunus about a week ago. Why?"

Blake froze in place. "T-That was you two? Why did you save them?"

"'Cause it was the right thing to do…? Why the sudden interest in my life? You planning on taking me to bed after this? If so, then I'll probably need a few drinks in me first~!" Yang smirked softly as she flirted shamelessly with her partner.

Blake stared at Yang, then groaned. "This isn't the time for flirting. We need to focus." She looked away, a very light blush dusting her cheeks. "Let's go." She bounded forward before Yang could say anything.

Yang stared at Blake as she left. "Was it something I said?" She then chuckled as she began to follow Blake. "Man. These guys are easy!"

* * *

Jaune sighed as he walked through the forest with Pyrrha. She had gotten him out out of the tree that she caught him in and was now partnered with someone who was five times his level. It was very sobering. Also depressing. He heard a distant explosion and flinched. "Did you hear that?"

Pyrrha nodded and looked back at Jaune. "Gunfire. It seems that some of our allies have encountered the enemy." She began to walk forward at a hastened pace, and brushed a branch out of her way.

Jaune yelped as he ducked under the branch, then groaned as he was whipped in the back of the head. He fell face first into the ground and then groaned again. He looked up to see Pyrrha leaning down at him and offering him a hand. Which he took shamelessly. "Thanks…" He touched his head and winced as he felt a bruise forming.

Pyrrha tilted her head from confusion. "Why didn't you activate your Aura?'

"My what?"

"Your _Aura."_

"Gesundheit."

Pyrrha's brow furrowed in thought. Also confusion. "Jaune, do you know what Aura is?"

Jaune scoffed and chuckled a bit as he was about to respond. But something in his head told him to not try and stroke his own ego. He sighed as he slumped forward. "No…"

 **For trusting yourself and setting your ego aside, you have gained +1 WIS**

' _Huh. That's… cool.'_ Jaune looked at the notification and then looked back at Pyrrha.

The gladiator sighed a bit. "Aura is the manifestations of our souls. It bears our burdens and shields our hearts when we cannot." She thought for a second then smiled. "Have you ever had the feeling of being watched without knowing that someone was there?"

Jaune thought for a second, then nodded. "Yeah. It happens all the time, actually."

Pyrrha's stance shifted to where she seemed more focused. "Well, with practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."

Jaune looked around for a second. "Well, what about monsters like the Grimm?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "No. The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are the manifestations of anonymity. They are the darkness, and we are the light that strips away their masks."

Jaune had to think about that for a second, but if the Grimm are anonymity, then her saying made sense. "Right. That's why we fight them, right?"

Pyrrha shook her head again. "It's not about why or fighting, it's about knowing. Understanding both the dark and the light allows us to manifest our aura. Everyone has a little of both. By baring our souls outward as a force, we can deflect harm." She looked down at her sword and shield. "All of our tools and equipment are conduits for aura. You project yourself _and_ your soul while fighting."

Jaune nodded silently, then gasped with a smile. "It's like a force field!" He thought for a second, then shook his head. "No… force fields don't really make you stronger like it does with Ruby and Yang. Well, the guarding part's like one!"

Pyrrha chuckled softly. "If that is how you wish to see it." She then stepped closer to Jaune. "Now then, close your eyes and concentrate."

Jaune gulped softly. "U-Um… O…kay…" He slowly closed his eyes as he felt Pyrrha place a hand on his chest.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, then her eyes opened wide as she began to glow a light red, though she had to look up when Jaune began to glow a very bright white. " _ **For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release thine soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."**_ Pyrrha immediately slumped down a bit from exhaustion.

Jaune caught her before she could fall, ignoring the notification for now. "Are you alright Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha nodded softly, panting. "Yes… I-I'm fine. It just takes a lot out of you when you awaken someone… I just unlocked your aura…" She glanced up at Jaune and smiled as she watched the bruise fade away. "You seem to have quite the fair amount of it."

Jaune smiled as he helped Pyrrha stand up straight. "Thanks, but you didn't have to do that. I would've been just fine on my… well, that's probably a lie." He looked at the notification and his eyes widened slightly.

 **You have released the power of your soul! You have gained the skill [Aura] and have unlocked potential access to your Semblance!**

 **Aura** **(Passive/Active): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%: Cost: 1 AP per second: Aura. All hunters have one, and now, you have yours.**

 **+1% passive bonus to all physical stats (+2% when active)**

 **Shifts damage to AP until AP is depleted**

 **Allows for usage of your Semblance at will**

 **Unlocks Semblance progression**

Under that notification, there was a white window outlined in gold.

 **Paladin(Stage 0)**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Passive effect: Boosts AP by 10% of Max HP each stage progression.**

Jaune looked at the passive effect and smiled. He might be okay here after all.

 **You have gained Blake Belladonna as an ally!**

 **X1.5 EXP to all Stealth and Whip/Whip related weapons.**

' _Huh. Weird. I didn't even talk to Blake'_ Ruby looked at the notification as he walked with Weiss in the forest. They had stopped talking to avoid fighting with each other a bit ago, as they were making way too much noise. Soon Ruby paused and stared at an actual window that popped up in front of her. ' _Well, that hasn't happened in a while.'_

 **You have entered a combat instance of a comrade who needs assistance! You and your comrades will then be forced into a dungeon. Hurry!**

Ruby suddenly looked around frantically, then heard gunshots coming from her right. "Weiss! They might need our help!"

Weiss sighed. "It might also be nothing, but we can go take a look anyways."

Ruby smiled then dashed forward at her full speed. She heard Weiss shout at her, then guessed that she began to run after her. After a few minutes of running, Ruby burst through the trees into a clearing to see a fading giant snake thing.

 **Lightning Rod**

 **Nora Valkyrie**

 **LV: 43**

 **Without a Trace**

 **Lie Ren**

 **LV: 42**

Weiss panted softly as she walked through the clearing right after Ruby. "So, was it nothing?"

Nora appeared behind Weiss and cheered. "New people! And no, it wasn't nothing! Ren was so awesome fighting that huge two headed snake thing! But the heads were on opposite sides, so if one head ate something, then the other...blech!" Nora gagged at the random thought that entered her head, then appeared next to Ren. "Still though, it was amazing!"

Ren sighed. "At least you got the numbers and the monster right this time Nora." He shook his head with a smile. "Either way, more company is appreciated. There may still be Grimm lurking around here."

Just as Ren finished his sentence, the air shifted. It wasn't a visible change, more like the air got...heavier. Ruby looked up and saw that the sky was blood red. "What…?"

 **You and your comrades have been forced into a dungeon! To leave, you must clear the boss at the end of this place and obtain the treasure!**

Ruby shook her head. "Okay, weird sky aside, we need to get going. You guys okay with staying with us for now?"

Nora rushed over to Ruby and nodded. "Of course we are!" She lifted Ruby up in a hug. "I'm Nora! And my teammate over there is Ren!"

Ren walked over and tilted his head as a greeting, and then realized that he still did not have his weapons. He rushed over to retrieve them, then fired into the forest when he heard a rustling sound. He quickly jumped back and what came out was a Beowolf with a red heart on its chest.

Ruby stared at the heart on the Grimm's chest, then looked at the name.

 **Guardian of Heart**

 **Beowolf**

 **LVL: 10**

Ruby blinked, then sighed. "Of course… Dungeon creatures… This is a dungeon."

Weiss looked at Ruby. "A _what?"_

Nora smirked. "You mean a _fun_ geon! NORA SMASH!" She rushed towards the Grimm and grabbed the grenade launcher from her back, pushed a button on it as she flipped it into the air, grabbed the now giant hammer and hit the Grimm as hard as she could in the heart sigil on its chest, sending it into the air.

Ruby quickly unfurled Crescent Rose into its sniper form and fired it at the Grimm, shooting through its skull, landing a critical hit, in fact, killing it.

Nora stared up at the dissolving Grimm, a satisfied smile on her face. She then felt something bounce off of her forehead. "Ow." She bent over to pick it up and it was a quarter of a card. Which was made of stone. "Ren, the Grimm spat out something weird."

Ren walked over to Nora and took the card fragment. "Looks like a part of a playing card. But there are grooves carved into the back of it… it could be a key to something."

Ruby ran over to Ren and used her **[Observe]** skill on the thing.

 **Boss Key Fragment (Heart)**

Ruby smiled as she grabbed it. "Yeah it's a key to something. But it doesn't look finished. See where it's cracked on two of the edges? There's at least two more pieces somewhere around here."

Nora heard something else fall to the ground and picked it up. "Look! It dropped Lien! You said that this was a dungeon right, err… what's your name?"

"My name's Ruby. Nice to meet you Nora, and yeah, I did. That was a dungeon monster." Ruby was about to say more, when Weiss interrupted.

"Okay, am I _really_ the _only_ one who has no idea what's going on?! Dungeons?! _Keys_?! In a _Forest?!_ Are the rest of you _INSANE?!_ " Weiss yelled at the group with all of her anger channeled into her words instead of her actions.

Ren sighed. "I'm just as lost as you are, however I've just learned to accept that when something like this happens to just go along with it. It's easier than fighting it." He then looked around. "We aren't going to make any progress by standing around. Let's go." He hid his weapons in his sleeves and walked towards a path in the trees that looked like the only way they could go.

Ruby looked at her minimap that had appeared again and smiled. It wasn't complete, but it looked like it worked differently for dungeons. She quickly took the lead and looked around, noticing something a little off.

Weiss stared at the clearing ahead of them to see the edge of a cliff, only to see that they were now on a floating island. "W-What happened to the Emerald Forest…?"

Nora stared down into the abyss that was the sky. "Wow, we are _really_ high up! This is awesome!"

Weiss groaned softly. "That's not the point! The point is that we have no idea where we are!

"Why, you're in the Veil of Tears."

The group turned around to see a very creepy, boney, dark furred cat with a large earring in its left ear.

Nora's hand shot up to point at the cat. "Creepy talking kitty!"

The cat chuckled. "Well, yes, I can talk, and I am a cat. But call me Cheshire. I exist right now to give Alice advice on her journey through Wonderland, but she seems to be having a little… trouble. She has lost control of her mind and is running rampant. I've managed to contain her here, however, I needed to bring in people who have a chance at freeing her from the state she's in."

Ruby walked over to Cheshire. "So… you want us to help this Alice girl by… fighting her?"

Cheshire nodded with a grin. "Precisely. And in return, I can help you with your problems. Lost in a forest, trying to find ruins. When north is south and south is west, all life really is, is chess."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

Cheshire chuckled as smoke surrounded him. His voice became echo-y. "The king wears four suits. Find them all to get to the ace." The smoke cleared and Cheshire was gone.

Weiss groaned softly. "That cat made no sense at all. First he's talking about helping someone, then about chess, and now about kings?"

Ren's eyes narrowed in thought. "Four suits… Ruby, look at the key piece that we got."

Ruby nodded and pulled the key piece out of her Inventory. "There's a big heart on it."

Ren nodded softly. "Alright then. I know what the second riddle means. The cat meant that there are four suits of cards. Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs. We have the Heart piece, now we need the rest."

 **!QUEST ALERT!  
Welcome to Madness Part 1: Down the Rabbit Hole**

 **Main objective 1: Retrieve all 4 card keys**

 **Main objective 2: Defeat Alice**

 **Main objective 3: Escape Wonderland**

 **Side Objective 1: Defeat 20 ?**

 **Side Objective 2: Find a piece the Fragmented Rose**

 **Main rewards: 5000 EXP, 1000 Lien, Skill book**

 **Side Reward 1: 500 EXP, 300 Lien**

 **Side reward 2: Quest line unlocked**

 **Failure: Trapped in Wonderland, loss of Hunter status**

 **This quest cannot be refused.**

Ruby put the card key away and nodded. "We should stick together, No telling what's in this place." _And I'll need every advantage that I can get.'_ She then pulled the Skill Book on Dust Manipulation she had used it, not bothering to explain just yet.

 **You have gained the skill [Dust Casting]!**

 **Dust Casting** **(Active): LVL: 1 EXP: 0.00% Cost: Special. Over the years, the art of Mana spells were lost and were replaced with Dust.**

 **Allows for spells to be cast with Dust and AP instead of MP**

 **Grants usage of spells by using Dust as a catalyst for the spell in question**

 **Dust consumed can be in either crystalline or powdered form, though effects may vary.**

 **Element of Dust consumed MUST match the element for the spell.**

 **At higher levels, Dust can be used to empower spells as well as be used to cast them**

' _Good thing that I have dust. Even if it's only a little bit.'_

Nora stared at Ruby. "Did… did you just _eat_ that book?! AWESOME!"

Weiss stared at the red hooded girl as well. "I thought you said that your Semblance scatters things. And while it did scatter the book, you didn't say you could absorb things too."

Ruby shrugged. "Didn't seem important. And for some reason it only happens when I scatter knowledge. I can absorb it and learn it immediately, but that's all that part of my semblance is good for. I still have to train it all, so it's only worth it if I'm going to use what I learn a lot."

Ren stared at… something. "Guys?"

-Weiss turned to look at Ren. "What is it now?!"

Ren pointed his finger in the direction of something made out of black goop rising from the ground. When it seemed fully formed, metal pipes stuck out of its back, and a plastic doll head came out of the front of it.

Nora yelped as she pointed at it as well. "CREEPY DOLL THING!"

Ruby's eyes narrowed as she saw the name of the… thing… in front of her.

 **Smog of Lies**

 **Insidious Ruin**

 **LV: 5**

Ruby smirked a bit, then finally used her **[Observe]** active ability against an enemy, because she finally had no clue what this thing is.

 **Class: Insidious**

 **Race: Ruin**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **MP:0/0**

 **A physical manifestation of the lies Alice has been told to keep the memories of her past shattered. The more lies that are told, the stronger these being become.**

Ruby scowled and slammed the tip of her scythe into the ground and fired at the doll head on the Insidious Ruin, seeing as that was the only really solid thing on it besides the metal pipes sticking out of its back. It took a two shots, seeing as because they were headshots, they counted as critical hits. The doll head shattered, and the goop dissolved into the ground, leaving a small corked vial with the same black goop inside of it.

Ren looked at Ruby. "Do you think that was a little hasty? We don't know what it was, or if they'll be more of them."

Weiss stared at Ruby, then scoffed. "Honestly, as soon as you see something that is the slightest bit creepy, you get all trigger happy, and we can't get anything good out of your blunders."

Nora picked up the vial and stared at it. "Hmmm… well, it's black goop! That's all I got! Ruby! Heads up!" She then tossed the vial to Ruby, who caught it and used **[Observe]** on it.

 **Ruinous Essence**

 **Poison Type Weapon Enhancement**

 **When applied to your weapon, this fluid caused chaos and ruin to wreak havoc inside of the target's body and mind.**

 **Deals 10 points of damage to all counters per second for ten seconds. If enough poison is inside of the targets system, then their Max HP, MP, and AP will begin to fall.**

 **When used on a Ruin type enemy, this substance heals them for the amount of damage dealt.**

Ruby stared at it for a few moments, then put it into her inventory. "We should keep moving if we're going to find a way out of here." She pulled her scythe out of the ground and then quickly pointed the blade behind her just in case.

"Very good, young lady." Cheshire slowly appeared behind Ruby with his grin. "You're the first to figure out that I'm always here. Not even Alice has done that."

Ruby smirked as she folded her weapon up. "I have good eyes. Now, care to point us in the right direction before you disappear on us again?"

Cheshire chuckled creepily. "Very well. Follow me." He then leaped over the group onto the other side of a chasm. "If you wish to leave this place, then you need to trust in me."

Nora hummed a bit, then dashed towards the chasm and fired the grenade launcher on her hammer at the ground and soared through the air. "Weeee!" She landed across the chasm and laughed. "That was fun! Ren! Try it!"

Ren sighed as he shook his head, then dashed towards the chasm as well, then leaped over it, landing in a crouch.

Weiss created a path of glyph in the air and hopped from one to the next, and landed as elegantly as she could, as her training taught her to do.

Ruby smirked as she rushed towards the canyon, rose petals coming off of her cloak. She jumped as high as she could, then flowed down towards the other side where her teammates were at. "That WAS fun Nora!"

"I know right?"

Cheshire chuckled again. "It seems the girl in red has similar powers to Alice. Interesting." He then began to walk forward, leading the group to the next boss.

* * *

Jaune hummed a bit as he checked his skills, then yelped as he tripped over a vine. He groaned as he stood, and looked around and saw that he and Pyrrha were on an island surrounded by shallow water. "What is this place? Weren't we in a forest just a second ago?"

Pyrrha nodded as she drew her sword from her back. "Be on your guard Jaune. Something strange is going on." She then looked to her left when she heard a loud growling sound. What she saw was… odd. It was an Ursa with a diamond on its chest.

Jaune looked at the same thing, and then saw the words above its head, seeing as he was still in Ruby's party.

 **Guardian of Diamonds**

 **Ursa**

 **LV: 25**

He then unsheathed his sword and flicked his sheath into his shield. "W-What kind of Ursa is that?!"

Pyrrha stared at the Ursa. "I don't know, but it can't be good. We have to exterminate it!" She then rushed at the large bear Grimm with no trace of fear in her being. She threw her shield at it like a discus, hitting it in the head and making rear back slightly. She made a gesture with her hand and her shield came flying back to her just in time for her to perform a rising slash against the Grimm.

Jaune watched with shock, then shook away that shock and ran towards the Ursa as well, his sword reared back in a projected slash. The Ursa saw this and smacked Jaune away before he could get a hit on it.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha bashed the Ursa with her shield and then ran over to the downed blond. She quickly helped him to his feet and glared at the monster. "Are you okay?"

Jaune nodded as he prepared to strike. Just as he was going to charge the Ursa again, Pyrrha caught him by his arm.

Pyrrha quickly corrected Jaune's stance and then shifted her sword into a spear. "Don't project your attacks. Stay unpredictable, but make sure that your strikes are effective. Go for the ankles. I'll distract it." She then launched the spear at the Ursa, and a black glow surrounded it for a moment before it stabbed into the eye of the Grimm. She then rushed towards the Grimm and struck it with her shield, then yanked her spear out of it, shifting it into a sword again.

Jaune nodded and ran around to the back of the Grimm and slashed through one of its ankles.

 **For heeding the advice of someone with much more battle experience than you, you have gained +1 WIS!**

' _Okay. So… making wise actions increases my WIS?'_ Jaune jumped back before the Ursa could hit him again, then slashed through its other ankle. ' _I just have to act wise then.'_

 **You have deciphered the phrase 'Wisdom begets Wisdom'! +1 INT!**

Jaune smiled and then activated his **[Aura]** skill. He glowed white for a brief second, then quickly raised his shield to block another strike from the Ursa, pushing him back, but only a few feet this time.

Pyrrha smirked as she raised her shield as well, but to hit the Ursa in the jaw, exposing its neck. She then spun in place to get momentum for her slash as her blade sliced through the Grimm's throat. Pyrrha raised her shield to cover her eyes from the spurt of Grimm blood as the body fell limp and began to dissolve into smoke.

Once the smoke cleared, Jaune saw a small square thing with a diamond on it. He picked it up and examined it, seeing two jagged edges on it. "Hey Pyrrha, do you know what this is?"

Pyrrha took the square from Jaune's hand. She examined it just a Jaune did. "I'm sorry, but besides saying that this is a piece of something, I have no clue what it is."

"Interesting. It seems that more people were dragged in her than I thought. Perhaps Alice has a chance."

Pyrrha pointed the tip of her sword in the direction of the voice, to see a very bony cat. "What in Oum's name are you?"

"Calm down, young lady. I'm here to help. I must ask that you stay here though, because your friends are on the way to this location at this very moment. Though it may take some time." Cheshire began to fade again. "Remember, patience is a virtue."

Jaune stared at where the cat was, then sat down.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune. "What are you doing?"

Jaune shrugged. "Waiting, I guess. I mean, there's no reason why we should keep going until we meet up with whoever was dragged in here with us."

* * *

Yang groaned as she killed an Insidious Ruin. She flicked the goop off of her hand, then looked back at Blake. "So, any idea where we are yet?"

Blake shook her head as she pulled a doll head off of her blade. "Well, it isn't the Emerald Forest, that's for sure. There's much more water around here."

Yang sighed as she looked around. "Okay… what about those goopy things? Those weren't Grimm." She heard a screeching in the distance. "But that is!" Yang quickly reloaded her Ember Celica and then watched the sky.

Blake's bow twitched ever so slightly, then tackled Yang, just in time to get her out of the way of a large feather that stabbed into the ground. She then jumped off of Yang and reloaded Gambol Shroud. "Get to cover!"

Yang looked up in the air and saw a large bird pass over them, then dive towards the ground. She smirked when she saw the name.

 **Guardian of Clubs**

 **Giant Nevermore**

 **LVL: 30**

Yang then rushed towards the giant bird Grimm. She jumped while firing her weapons at the ground, sending her flying into the air. She whooped as she arced above the bird, and then fired multiple blasts of fire at the Nevermore, barely scorching it. Yang smirked as she landed behind the bird, then cried out as she was hit in the chest by the Grimm's tail. She was slammed through a boulder, and skidded to a halt next to Blake. "Okay… your turn Blake."

Blake groaned and then ran at the bird as well. She grabbed the handle on the sheath of Gambol Shroud and threw her gun right above the neck of the Grimm. She tugged at the very long ribbon that was attached to the handle of the gun-blade, making it wrap around the Nevermore's neck, and stabbing into the bird. She then yelped as she was yanked towards the bird. Blake saw the large wing about to hit her, so she activated her semblance and created a clone of herself that launched her out of her previous position, the clone being slashed through, fading like the shadow it was.

Yang saw this, and smirked. "So that's what 'Shadow Cat' is." She jumped to her feet, then rushed towards the bird again. "If going above doesn't work, then how about below?!" She slid under the bird and unloaded her magazines at the slightly more sensitive underbelly of the Grimm. She also noticed a large grey clover on its chest. "What?" Yang didn't have any more time to ponder that thought however, as she had to roll out of the way of a talon, which was about to crush her.

The Nevermore screeched loudly, then took flight, dragging Blake up with it. It then spun quickly during its ascent, making the ribbon wrapped around its neck become loose.

Blake looked down at the distancing ground, then groaned quietly. She yanked on the ribbon, making Gambol fly back to her as she fell. Her descent was swift, so to not die, she created a clone, which launched her in an entirely different direction, and sent her tumbling on the ground before she skidded to a halt on her feet, glaring at the giant bird.

Yang ran over to Blake and helped her stand up straight. "Okay, this isn't working. We need to get it to stay on the ground."

Blake nodded as she shifted Gambol into its sword form. "I can clip its wings if it lands again. But what I have in mind will take a lot out of me, so you'll need to get me away from it fast. Okay?"

Yang grinned and gave Blake a thumbs up. She then ran out into the middle of the area and whistled loudly. "HEY! BIRDBRAIN! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! WHY ARE YOU FLYING AROUND?! MAYBE WE SHOULD'VE NAMED YOUR RACE 'CHICKENSHIT'!"

 **A special skill has been created through a special action.**

 **By being a prick to an enemy, you have gained the skill [Taunt]**

 **Taunt** **(Active): LVL: 1 EXP: 0.00% Cost:N/A: You know what this does.**

 **5% chance of an enemy shifting its attention on the caster when used.**

 **Inflicts target with the status effect {Rage} when successful.**

 **Chance to inflict {Rage} can be doubled at the cost of 40 AP**

' _Cool skill!'_ Yang smirked when she saw the Nevermore dive towards her. "So… what's the deal with {Rage}?"

 **Target is enraged! When this occurs, their physical attacks are 15% more powerful than**

 **usual, but they cannot utilize special attacks, and will only target whoever enraged them.**

Yang smirked and cracked her knuckles. She flipped backwards to avoid a talon strike from the Nevermore, then was slammed into a cliff wall by the Nevermore. Yang pried herself out of the rock and then chuckled darkly as her hair began to glow. "I'm not done yet _Chickenshit_!"

The Nevermore glared at Yang again and then tried to hit her with a talon again. It then struggled as it was caught in a crushing grip by Yang.

Blake smiled a bit, then took a deep breath before jumping onto the wall and launching herself onto the Nevermore's back. She glowed purple for a moment, then grabbed Gambol by the ribbon and unleashed hell on the right wing of the Nevermore, soon cutting through its wing. She then proceeded to do the same with the other wing, but had to retreat when the feathers on the Nevermore's back suddenly became razor sharp.

Yang grinned and then twisted the Nevermore's talon sharply, likely breaking whatever counts as bone for Grimm. She then spun out of the way of another talon strike and then snapped the bone in that one as well. Yang then slowly walked over to the Nevermore's torn wing and finished the job by tearing it off the rest of the way. She held the large wing in the air for a moment, then began to beat the Nevermore to death with the severed wing. It took a few minutes, but eventually, the sharp feathers of the wing stabbed into the eye hole of the mask and became lodged there. The Nevermore let out a piercing cry as it faded into black smoke. Yang smiled and then picked up a weird tablet thing that it left. It had a clover on it. "Hey, Blake! I found something!" She looked down at the item and saw the name for it.

 **Card Key (Clubs)**

Blake nodded and then fell back, still exhausted. "How… are you… not tired…?"

Yang was about to answer, when her hair returned to normal, and then fell forward, hitting her face against the stone ground. She let out a soft groan.

Blake looked at Yang for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, that seems about right."

* * *

Ruby panted softly as she killed another one of those goopy things. "Don't these things ever give up?!"

Cheshire chuckled as he watched the kids fight. "These creatures will not rest until Wonderland in total ruin. You must destroy any you come across."

Weiss groaned as she pierced another doll head. "Yes, we heard you the first ten times you said that!"

Cheshire grinned. "Then why do you keep asking?"

Nora laughed as she slammed her hammer down on the head of an Insidious Ruin. "This is so fun! Can we do this more often?!"

Ren groaned as he finished the last one off with single shot to the eye. "No, Nora. I don't think we can."

Ruby sighed as she folded Crescent Rose up and hooked it to her dress. "Are we at least getting close to the next place?"

Cheshire chuckled again. "In a pool of tears will you find the Knight and the Gladiator, and their fears." He then faded, his grin the last thing to go.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Again with the riddles." She then heard a very high pitched scream. "Some girl is in trouble!" She then turned towards the sound and rushed towards it as fast as she could, leaving the others behind.

Ren was about to call to Ruby, but groaned instead and sprinted after her.

Weiss and Nora looked at each other for a moment, then ran after the other two, both much slower than the others.

Ruby was so focused on getting to whoever screamed that she didn't see Ren run up behind her.

"You didn't think that I would stay behind, did you?" Ren glanced at Ruby, then looked forward, slowing down to match the girl's pace.

' _He's fast. I'll need to keep that in mind.'_ "No, not really! I just didn't think that you would catch up so quickly!" Ruby activated her Semblance and then dashed forward again. "Try to keep up this time!" Due to the nature of her Semblance, her **[Aura]** skill activates at the same time, granting her a 60% increase in her speed, because that skill is overpowered.

Ren sighed and then ran after Ruby again, quickly catching up, but needing to turn his Aura on to do so. "You know that you'll exhaust yourself if you do this."

Ruby chuckled. "I have that covered! I was taught how to regenerate Aura! And I can also fill others Aura up too!" She then flowed out of the way of a large branch in front of her. "Either way, I can help!" She heard another scream. "We're getting closer!" She and Ren reached the edge of the treeline within seconds and skidded to a halt as they nearly ran off the edge of a cliff. Ruby looked down the cliff and saw Jaune and Pyrrha fighting some weirder Ruin creatures. They had claws, and seemed to be very agile.

 **Claws of Fear**

 **Lacerating Ruin**

 **LV: 15**

Ruby looked over at Ren to see him jumping down into the chasm.

Ren fired his bladed sub machine guns at one of the creatures, then channeled his aura into his feet. He landed next to the Ruin and then kicked it in its creepy doll face, forcing his aura through it, and making it explode. He then released his Aura to do whatever and dodged out of the way of a claw swipe directed at him.

Pyrrha immediately rushed in when Ren flipped away and stabbed at the doll head on the Ruin and then hit it in the same place with the edge of her shield. It cut the porcelain doll head in half, making the Ruin fade as it collapsed.

Jaune was currently dodging the attacks of the Ruin attacking him, and occasionally blocking so that he could get a slash in, but the Ruin was just faster than him, so he mostly blocked.

Pyrrha looked back at Jaune. "Ram the creature with your shield!"

Jaune glanced back at Pyrrha, then nodded. "Right. Shield bashing is a thing." He blocked the attacks of the monster for a minute longer before he slashed at it again, making it jump back. He then rammed into it with his shield in front of him. Jaune apparently hit it hard enough to stun it, because once it stumbled back, the body collapsed and the head was very exposed. He then rushed over and stabbed the Ruin in its head, making the goo that created its body fade away. Jaune then turned around to see another Ruin lunging at him. He raised his shield and closed his eyes, hoping that the old shield would be enough to block the monster.

Ruby skidded to a halt in front of Jaune, rose petals being flung off her cloak. She pointed her rifle at the head of the Ruin and fired exactly four shots at it before it shattered and turned to nothing. "You guys okay?"

Jaune peaked at Ruby from behind his shield. "Ruby? How did you get here?"

"I ran. So did Ren. Did you know that he's faster than me?" Ruby unfolded her scythe and stood next to Jaune, facing the opposite direction, more Ruins spawning. She smirked and spun her scythe above her before dashing forward and slashing through one of them, firing a gravity dust round so she could kill it in one blow. She flowed out of the way of another Ruin and jumped into the air, firing off another gravity dust round to propel herself higher. She smirked and spun around as she fell, then slashed through two more heads.

Jaune ran over to Ruby and blocked a series of slashes from a Ruin that was likely meant for the red hooded girl. He then ducked for some reason, then saw that Ruby had pointed her rifle at the creature just as he ducked. As soon as she fired he got up and drove his blade through the Ruin's head, twisted Crocea Mors, and then yanked the blade out, shattering the doll head. "Is… Is that it…? Please let that be it…!"

 **!WARNING!**

 **Personal Boss incoming!**

Ruby looked at the warning with confusion, mostly because it covered her entire vision. "Go away! If there's a boss, then I can't be blinded by this!" The warning went away, and Ruby heard an odd bubbling behind her. "That… can't be good." She turned around with Jaune to see Ruin material slowly forming in the center of where they were.

Ren looked at Pyrrha. "Any idea what we're up against?" He reloaded his weapons and prepared himself.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No. I'm sorry, but I've been confused about these monsters for the duration we've been in here."

Jaune, for some reason, felt a primal fear begin to fill his being. His legs began to tremble.

Ruby looked over at Jaune. "Hey, you okay? You're shaking."

Jaune didn't respond. He just watched in horror as the goop formed a very human like figure, and looked armored. It had a longsword and a shield, both dripping the same black goop the enemy was made from. Slowly, a blank porcelain mask came out of the goop where its face would be. The creature looked at Jaune immediately.

 **Fear Taken Form**

 **Dark Knight**

 **LV: 30**

* * *

 **Well! That was fun!**

 **Jaune: FUN?! WHAT PART OF THAT WAS FUN?!**

Yang: The part where I got to punch a bird out of the sky!

 **Anyways, I apologize for the delay again, as I did on my new story 'Troublesome Games'**

 **Ruby: Is he-**

 **NO SPOILERS! All will be explained. Eventually. When I feel like it.**

 **Ruby: *deadpans* Oh.**

 **So… yeah. Tell me what you guys think about this dungeon? I plan on bringing it back at a much later date, but… yeah. Just tell me what you guys think of this entire thing, and be completely honest if you are going to review. Just… please no flames. Yang makes enough of them. Bye!**


	6. Fears Diminish

**Hey there everyone! I'm glad that people like the content of the previous chapter! I was honestly afraid that I lost my touch a bit during the hiatus! So, reviews!**

 **Plasma Dragon 312: Not a problem at all! It just wouldn't be fair to them if I left them out.**

 **Emiliano733: Well, I kinda chose the Alice games because of the roses as health to be completely honest. Trust me, the others will get op along with Ruby as time goes on. So, the difference between those two are that dust manipulation is using dust to call upon the elements, like in a bullet, or a glyph. Dust casting is using Dust and AP as a substitute to MP. And the stages are not skill trees. Certain skills will unlock as other skills upgrade, but their progression is the same as the levels, but with more extreme changes. And regarding your theory...I have no clue yet! XD But the Grimm will certainly die down IF Salem dies.**

 **Guest: I have every intention of continuing this to completion.**

 **Doctor Psychosis: I didn't mean for it to be taken like that, but yes. Super edgy boss because his parents are dead.**

 **MysticSpider: I felt that it was more fair to give them a percentage every thirty points instead of a set increase every point. And I felt really bad about that and corrected it before anyone else saw it. 5%** **chance of an enemy shifting its attention on the caster when used is not the taunt succeeding. And what penis jokes?**

 **Spica75: She will be faster! It's still at stage 1, so she has time to improve!**

 **Saint of vice koncor: It's not really a doppelganger, more of a manifestation of your fears taken form. I didn't really try to portray it as that, but if I did and mislead people… sorry. But they all have one, and they definitely have more than one.**

 **Without further adieu, here is the next chapter of The Rose Gamer!**

 **Yang: Actually, I have a question.**

 **What…?**

 **Yang: Why did you name that goopy thing the Dark Knight?**

 **Because I had batman on the brain and it seemed fitting. Okay? Now stop holding up the story!**

* * *

"Speech"

'Scroll Message'

' _Thought'_

 **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

Ruby cried out as she was knocked into the rocky wall of the chasm by the boss. It hit her and Jaune when she protected him from a powerful slash the creature unleashed. She tried to block it with her scythe, but the blade just flowed over her weapon and she took the hit directly. Because she had her **[Aura]** up, she was able to avoid harm, but the slash took 350 points of her AP instantly. She scowled and then rushed the Dark Knight, and slashed through its body. She looked back at it and saw that it was unharmed. "Damn!" She almost covered her mouth out of reflex, but she instead had to dodge out of the way of black spikes shooting out of the ground. She kept her eyes on the creature, and saw that it had shoved its sword into the ground.

Ren noticed this as well and rushed towards the boss seeing that it was vulnerable. He fired his twin machine pistols at the monster as he approached, then tried to strike at its face with the blades on the weapons. His wrist was caught by a black tendril that had come up from the ground. He looked at the figure's face to see it 'staring' at him. There were no eyes, but he could feel it. It raised a hand and waggled a finger at him, as if telling him off, before using that tendril to toss him away like he was nothing.

Pyrrha's hands glowed black for a moment, as did Ren's. She yanked her arms back, causing Ren to flip in the air and skid to the ground on his feet. She then tossed her shield at the creature's white mask, causing it to be knocked away. It glowed black for a moment before going flying towards the gladiator, who had shifted her spear into a sword. Pyrrha caught the shield and attached it to her left arm and slashed at the mask on the boss. A tendril caught her wrist as well, but before she could be sent flying, she cut through it with her shield and jumped back as she shifted her blade into a rifle. She fired off three rounds, two just being shot through the black goop part, but one hitting the mask, making the creature growl slightly.

The Dark Knight yanked its sword out of the ground and glared at Pyrrha, before walking towards her, its shield in front of it. The shield quickly shifted to become a tower shield that was slightly taller and wider than the creature itself. Spikes formed on the outside of the shield as well. The Dark Knight grunted quietly, then dashed towards Pyrrha, the ground cracking from both the speed and the weight of the creature.

Ruby flowed towards Pyrrha and tackled her out of the way of the possibly killing blow. She helped her up, and then placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, her hand glowing red. Ruby watched the white bar under Pyrrha's health fill up completely, then dashed back towards Jaune, who was still petrified from the fear. "Jaune! Tell me what's wrong! Why are you so afraid?!"

Jaune was staring at the shield the creature was using. "M-My great grandfather used a shield exactly like that…"

Ruby looked at the Dark Knight again, then recalled the riddle Cheshire gave them. "Jaune, its title is 'Fear Taken Form'. Are you afraid of your great grandfather?!"

Jaune shook his head. "No! He was the nicest man you could ever meet! But I've heard that whenever he was on the battlefield, he was ruthless, slaughtering any enemy that got near him."

Ruby looked over again and saw Ren get knocked away by the creature's sword. His AP was at half. "Okay! Think about what that could mean! If he's like your great grandfather, then it has something to do with your family!" She flowed over to Ren and grabbed him from under his arms, and took him away from the boss monster, who had delivered a crushing strike to the ground where Ren was. She quickly replenished his Aura, then saw hers ticking down fast. "Ren, I need to get my Aura back up! Can you distract it with Pyrrha?"

Ren nodded as he stood up and ran over to the monster. He jumped onto the cliff wall and propelled himself off of it, able to graze the Dark Knight's mask with his bullets.

The Dark Knight immediately shifted his attention to Ren and the blade suddenly became a large war hammer, the shield now gone. The monster swung its hammer violently at Ren, shattering the ground where he was. It was suddenly struck in the face by another warhammer, then blasted back by an explosion that came from it.

Nora landed on the ground next to Ren with a vicious grin. "Sorry we're late, but the Princess wanted to walk!"

Weiss groaned as she landed elegantly on the ground next to the crazy girl. "You wanted to make me fly by hitting me with a grenade launcher!" She then looked at the monster, which was quickly recovering from being prone. "What is THAT?!"

Ren looked at Weiss. "Considering what Ruby said about this being a dungeon, I'd say that this is the boss. Or _a_ boss." He saw the warhammer that the boss wielded split in half as it became dual sabres. "Let's go Nora!" He rushed the boss, quickly diving to the side to avoid a series of slashes.

Nora nodded, the grin on her face getting wider. She ran towards the boss as well, launched herself into the air, and then slammed her hammer down towards the boss.

The Dark Knight looked up at Nora and quickly shifted its weapon back to the warhammer and met her strike with one of his own, a shockwave sending them both flying back. It shifted its weapon in the air and began to throw daggers at Nora.

Ruby skidded to a halt in front of the prone form of Nora and spun Crescent Rose in front of her as fast as she could, deflecting the black daggers. She saw the monster land on its feet, already forming a long katana in its left hand.

Jaune gripped his blade hard enough for his arms to stop shaking. He gritted his teeth and then ran towards the creature, his body glowing white. He slashed at its back, actually doing damage. He saw a notification in the corner of his eye.

 **You have pushed your fears aside to assist your allies! [Paladin] has progressed to stage 1!**

 **Paladin(Stage 1)**

 **A Warrior of light, with convictions set in stone. The light bows to you and obeys your will, but beware, as your convictions can be used against you and cause you to fall to the darkness**

 **When active: HP and AP regen is boosted by 50%, Adds Light Element to your Weapons and Armor**

 **Passive effect: Boosts AP by 15% of Max HP next stage progression. Grants Light Affinity**

 **Enhancing your equipment with a certain element increases the damage given to an enemy with said element on a weapon, or increasing the resistance of the same element. In the case of Light and Darkness, armor enhancement increases resistance to the adverse element. Enhancement is based off of one's affinity to the element. If it is at Stage one, the equipment is enhanced by 20% its statistics.**

Jaune quickly read over the notification before he had to block the katana with his shield. He took 0 damage to his AP over that, other than the cost of his semblance. He pushed the blade aside and jumped out of the way of another slash, and was replaced by Ruby and Nora both swinging their weapons in an upwards arc, slashing the mask and launching the creature into the air.

Pyrrha launched her javelin at the creature, it glowing black for a brief moment before stabbing into the mask.

Ren was thrown into the air by Nora, caught himself on the javelin, and unloaded the magazines of his weapons at the mask, then released the creature just as bolts of ice struck it, sending it higher.

Ruby looked over at Weiss. "Weiss! Can I use some Shock Dust?"

Weiss groaned and then pulled a metal canister of powdered grade 3 Shock Dust out of her bag and tossed it to Ruby. "What are you going to do with it?"

Ruby opened the canister and folded up her weapon, before pouring some into her hand. "Testing something out!" She then activated **[Dust Manipulation]** and channeled her aura into the dust. She quickly held her hand towards Nora and unleashed the lightning bolt at her.

Nora's eyes widened as electricity coursed through her body. Her grin became more vicious as she leapt into the air, quickly reaching the Dark Knight's height, lightning arcing off of her and her weapon. She raised her warhammer above her and slammed it down, driving the javelin through the creature's face, and its head. A crack of thunder rang out as the creature was sent flying towards the ground, impaling itself on the javelin again, this time much more painfully. She fired her grenade launcher to accelerate her decent. The javelin was yanked out of the boss by Ruby, who tossed it back to Pyrrha, letting Nora slam her hammer into the mask of the boss, making it crack. She fired her grenade launcher again, flipping off of the boss.

Weiss spun the barrel on her rapier again and it landed on purple. She smirked and then a purple glyph appeared above the boss and increased the gravity by a factor of three. The ground began to crack as it stood. "Why isn't it dead yet?!"

Ruby stared at the rapidly growing red bar above the boss. "I-I don't know!"

Jaune looked at Pyrrha. "Launch me into the air!" He then looked at Nora. "Nora, you throw me at the thing with all of your strength." He smiled at the salute Nora gave him, then turned back towards Pyrrha, who was crouching with her shield above her. He ran towards the gladiator and jumped onto her shield. His body glowed black for some reason as he was launched into the air, much higher than he thought he would go.

Nora chuckled and then looked at Ruby, who clearly knew what she was thinking as she held her scythe in a reverse grip. She ran towards the reaper in red and jumped onto her scythe. A gunshot rang out as Nora was launched in the air just as high as Jaune was. Lightning began to arc violently on her arms. "Ready Jaune?!"

Jaune shook his head. "No! But let's do it anyways!" He felt Nora grab his arm, giving him a nice shock. She then yelled from the pain of exertion and the concentrated lightning in her arms as she launched Jaune directly at the boss. Jaune flailed in the air for a moment before making his shield his sheath, hooking it to his belt, and grabbing Croceas Mors with both hands, channeling as much Aura as he could into the blade, making it glow a blinding white. He gritted his teeth as he felt the wind cutting his face, and then slashed through the mask of the boss with a yell, likely just instinct making him do that.

The mask seemed untouched, then began to crack much more, before it shattered. Instead of the goop collapsing, it seemed to writhe, before glowing white and exploding.

Ruby covered her eyes at the explosion, barely dodging the quickly melting arm of the boss.

 **You have defeated The Dark Knight! Jaune Arc has unlocked his Semblance and can now achieve his dream of becoming a great hunter, without being hindered by his fears!**

 **[Aura] has gained a level!**

 **[Aura Transfer] has gained a level!**

 **[Aura Transfer] has gained a level!**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **[Rifle Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Scythe Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Scythe Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained [Lightning Affinity(Stage 0)]**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **A special skill has been attained through a special action! Through working together instinctively against a common foe, the skill [Teamwork] has been created!**

 **Teamwork** **(Passive): LVL: 1 EXP: 50%: Working together against a common struggle is natural! Time to harness that instinct!**

 **Damage is increased by 10% when at least 4 members of the party are attacking the same enemy**

 **When in a party of at least 4, damage from singular enemies is reduced by 5%**

 **When in a party of at least 4, EXP gained in all things is increased by 1%**

Cheshire chuckled as he appeared where the Dark Knight died. "Purrrrrfect. You all reacted wonderfully. The blonde over there has even grown much stronger in the process. And Little Red Riding Hood as well."

Ruby puffed her cheeks out in anger. "I am not Red Riding Hood! How do you even know that story?!"

Cheshire chuckled again, his grin growing wider. "Because it's a popular story in Alice's world as well. Which is an oddity in itself, the same story in both worlds, wouldn't you say?" He turned towards an exit before anyone could question him. "Down the path you will find one blind to herself, and one blind to others. Go." He disappeared, leaving the others confused.

The white aura around Jaune disappeared and he collapsed to his knees, panting heavily.

Nora ran over to Jaune and helped him to his feet. "The first time's intense huh? Only people whose semblance makes the body weird can understand it."

Jaune nodded as he caught his breath. He sheathed Crocea Mors and walked over to Ruby. "How did you know where to find us?"

Ruby smiled. "I didn't! I just heard someone scream and I wanted to help?"

Jaune suddenly became nervous. "O-Oh! Okay then! W-Well, I think we better get moving!"

Ren cleared his throat. "Do you have any of those strange tablets with a symbol on them?"

Pyrrha nodded as she walked over to Ren and handed her the diamond Card Key.

Ren took the slab and then tossed it to Ruby, who already had the Card Key of Hearts out. "Hmm… nope. They don't connect. You were right Ren, there's a total of four of them." She then stored both of them into her Inventory when she heard Weiss growl.

"Alright! I have had enough of this!" Weiss stomped over to Ruby and pushed a finger into her chest. "I am tired of not knowing what the hell is going on here, and I will not tolerate any lies! So you are going to tell me everything _now_!" She then felt the barrel of Crescent Rose press against her stomach.

Ruby stared into Weiss's eyes. "Calm down Schnee, before that glyph behind you hurts someone."

Weiss stiffened up and then turned behind her to see a glyph circle quickly going away. She sighed and then glared at Ruby again, who was putting her weapon away. "Well?! Are you going to tell us?"

Ruby's glare hardened at the Schnee. "I might have told you if you weren't being so demanding _Princess_. Honestly, you believe that everyone obeys you just because of a name! Sure, they mine our Dust, but a lot of Hunters can get by just fine without it! So cut the shit and stop being such a bitch!" Ruby's eyes were glowing silver during her last sentence. She suddenly calmed down as she stopped resisting **[Gamer's Mind]**.

Everyone was quiet for a minute, before Nora snickered and started laughing.

Weiss immediately looked at Nora. "What is so funny?!"

Nora stopped laughing for just enough time to respond. "Y-You don't even know that you're acting like that!"

Weiss was about to retort, but the words caught in her throat. Why was she getting mad about this when all they're doing is pointing something out? She sighed and for the first time in her life, relented. "I...I'm sorry." The words sounded very forced. "I was raised with the mindset that I _have_ to order everyone around so things actually work."

Ruby sighed and shook her head. "I shouldn't have snapped like that...sorry Weiss… but to make it up to you, I'll show you my other power." She cleared her throat and became serious. " **Invite Weiss Schnee, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Pyrrha Nikos to the party."**

Nora gasped loudly as she immediately pressed the **[Yes]** button. "This is so cool! Jaune, why are you only level 14?

Ruby looked at Jaune. "Did you level up from that fight?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. I also got a level in **[Sword Mastery]**."

Nora hummed a bit, then looked at her status screen. "Oh my Oum this is amazing Ren! Press yes! Pressitpressitpressit!"

 **You have gained Nora Valkyrie as an ally! When partied with her, you will gain 1.5x EXP to Hammer and Lightning Skills.**

Ren sighed as he pressed the button, and then smiled. "Well, at least your title is right Nora." He then looked at his own status screen by mimicking what his companion said a and looked over his stats. "And the numbers seem accurate as well. This is impressive Ruby."

 **You have gained Lie Ren as an ally! When partied with him, you will gain 1.5x EXP to all dagger, pistol and SMG skills.**

Pyrrha looked at the other two and then shrugged as she pressed the button as well. She looked over at the group and smiled. "You're all quite strong. And from what I can guess, those words above your head are your Semblances. Though Ruby and Weiss's seem… inaccurate."

Ruby chuckled. "Let me explain. The words above your name is your title. When you put on a title besides your default one, which is your Semblance, it can give you a special effect. Like me, I have the title 'Beginning Grimm Slayer', which allows me to deal ten percent more damage to Grimm, and take the same amount from the Grimm. And then there's Pyrrha, whose title is the 'Invincible Girl'. She's not invincible, so that would be an equipped title. And Weiss's is different too. Her title doesn't match her glyphs."

Nora pointed at Jaune. "So because your Semblance is 'Paladin' that means that you're actually a Paladin?"

Jaune shook his head. "No, that's not what my Semblance does. Well, it is, but I don't get it from a holy focus."

Ruby nodded. "And mine is called 'Flowing Petals'. Right now it's at stage one and it increases my DEX by 50% when active. It also turned whatever I kill with that on into rose petals."

Weiss stared at the window, then sighed as she pressed the button as well. "Well, this is...informative."

Nora looked at Weiss. "Hey, why is your title 'Loneliest of All'? Shouldn't it be something to do with glyphs?"

Ren walked over to Nora. "Nora, they just explained that you can get a different title under certain circumstances. But I don't think that Weiss's gives her a special effect."

Weiss looked at her status, then growled for a second. She wanted to tell Ruby off, but that's exactly what she was. It was also a line in one of the songs her father made her sing. "Okay, so how do I get rid of it?"

Ruby smiled. "I'm pretty sure that you can just take it off."

Weiss nodded and unequipped the title with a smile. She suddenly felt… more calm. More at peace. It was a great feeling. Her title shifted to 'Glyph Caster'. She then pressed on her old title to see what it did.

 **Loneliest of All: Pushed away everyone, and by everyone. Even themselves.**

 **When equipped, -75% effectiveness to all social interactions**

 **-100% closeness to everyone**

 **-50% chance of isolation madness**

 **+200% chance for anxiety attacks or losing your temper in public**

 **+300% resistance to giving into others**

She then stared at the title. "It's actually better to have this one off. Wow."

 **You have gained the Ally: Weiss Schnee! When partied with her, you gain x1.5 EXP to all dust related skills**

Ruby creeped up behind Weiss, pulling a Yang on her. "So what does it do?"

Weiss yelped and then glared at Ruby, this time for good reason. "Don't do that you dolt!"

Ruby chuckled sheepishly. "I'll give you that one. So what did the title do?" She then listened as Weiss read off the debuffs and then chuckled again, pale. "W-Well, I suppose its good if you're captured…?"

Weiss sighed with a nod. "Well, I suppose that we should get going, right?"

Nora appeared behind Pyrrha. "I actually want to know what Pyrrha's does! I mean, this one was a title that was given to her by her fans right? So it has to be good!"

Pyrrha glanced at the title.

 **Invincible Girl: Never defeated, never touched. Physically, nor emotionally.**

 **\- 50% effectiveness to all enemies who have heard your name.**

 **-50% chance to invoke a meaningful relationship to your own admirer.**

She then chuckled. "Oh it's nothing special. It's actually useless in here!"

Ruby shrugged and then looked down towards the path. "Onwards!" She ran towards it, leaving the group behind again.

Cheshire chuckled as he appeared in Ruby's place. "There's a shortcut to where she's going to your right if you want to see her gobsmacked."

Weiss looked to the right to see the cliff wall opening up. "Oh. Well then, I suppose we should get there, right?" The group nodded and walked into the new hole in the cliff.

* * *

Ruby panted heavily as she caught up with the group. "How… did you… get here…? Hah…"

Jaune pointed behind him. "We took a shortcut."

Ruby fell to her knees, a small whimper of defeat coming from her. She felt someone slap her back hard.

"Cheer up Ruby! At least we got here!" Nora kept smacking Ruby on her back until she got the reaper on her feet.

Ruby sighed as she stood, and then heard a scream of anger. She opened her **Party** menu and saw that Yang's Aura bar was nearly depleted, and her HP bar was beginning to take hits instead of her AP. "Yang's in trouble!"

Jaune was clutching to Pyrrha. "I-Is that what that demonic roar was?"

Ruby cast a blank gaze towards Jaune. "Just be glad she isn't here to hear you say that." She then looked at her minimap and saw that Yang's icon wasn't actually that far from where they were. "She's also close. Good."

Weiss scoffed. "Of course she's close. We heard her yell."

Ruby sighed. "Trust me. She can be very loud when she wants to be." She then unfolded her scythe and ran towards her sister's icon at a speed where the rest of the party could keep up with, only to encounter a wall. "No! Come on! There's got to be a way around!" She examined the wall, and found nothing. But her minimap showed that there was a small path in front of them.

Nora smirked as she pushed Ruby out of the way. "Let me!" She swung her hammer back with a grin on her face. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" She then slammed her hammer against the rock wall, triggering her grenade launcher as well, blowing a large hole in the wall.

Weiss stared at Nora, then nodded. "Good job."

Nora looked back at Weiss with a smile. "Did that hurt for you to say that?"

Weiss shook her head.

Nora hummed a bit, then charged in through the hole, seeing a blond haired girl repeatedly punching a King Taijitu in the faces, her eyes red, and her hair blazing. "You're right Ruby! She IS loud!"

Ruby groaned as she walked through the tunnel and looked at the snake grimm.

 **Guardians of Spades**

 **King Taijitu**

 **LVL: 27/25**

Ruby tilted her head at the levels, then shook her head as she flowed over and tackled Yang just as Nora launched a grenade at the snake. "Yang! Don't punch!"

Yang was about to punch, when her eyes became purple again. "Ruby? You got dragged here too?"

Ruby nodded as she began to fill Yang's AP up again. "Where's your partner?"

Yang pointed over by a tree. "She's resting over there. Ran out of AP. Well, she's not in the party yet, so I guess it's just Aura for her."

Ruby nodded as she suddenly filled Yang's AP in one very quick burst. She groaned as she felt a little light headed for a second. "You ready to go again?"

Yang nodded and then pushed Ruby off of her gently, stood up, then slammed her fists together, fire shooting up from behind her. "Alright you slithery bastard! Time to feel the pain!" She yelled as a distraction as she charged the white Taijitu head, which was about to bite Nora. She punched it hard, making it reel back.

Ruby ran over to Blake and knelt down next to the girl as she activated her **[Aura Recovery]** skill. She then began to transfer AP to blake at a rate of 250 per minute.

Weiss spun the barrel on her blade and when it landed on green, she smirked and stabbed the ground, a glyph forming under the stunned snake, and wrapping vines that shot from the ground around it, pinning it to the ground. The vines then grew thorns and stabbed into the snake in random areas. She watched the snake try to squirm, only to have the vines go deeper and then stab through it into the ground.

Pyrrha shifted her blade into a javelin and threw it at one of the heads of the Grimm, piercing through its eye. Well, one of them. The beast hissed loudly in pain and began to thrash as much as it could to escape its prison. The vines began to splinter and snap.

Nora cheered as she slammed her hammer down on the freed black head of the Taijitu, making it bite off its tongue. She then swung her hammer in a horizontal direction, slamming into the snake's jaw, then hearing a loud cracking noise as she fired her grenade launcher on its face. She grinned, then gritted her teeth in pain and effort as the Grimm tried to sink its fangs into her, the pink aura around her barely keeping it at bay.

Blake stood up and then looked at Ruby. "Thanks." She then fired Gambol in its pistol form as she threw it, making the weapon wrap around the throat of the snake Grimm. She yanked on the ribbon as she ran towards the monster, firing the weapon and causing the blade to slash through scales and flesh, black blood spilling on the ground. She then shifted Gambol back into its katana form and stabbed into the eye of the white head, immediately making it go limp.

Jaune ran in front of Yang and blocked the lunge from the black head. He then looked back and saw Yang jump over him. He felt the snake impact his shield again, and he stepped out of the way of the third strike, causing it to over extend and tear the stab wounds open further. It hissed in pain again and glared at Jaune.

Yang yelled again and punched the Grimm at the base of its head, directly on its spine. She grabbed onto the snake's neck and began to punch it really really hard, hearing cracking around the sixth or seventh punch. Ste stopped counting when she heard a snap, but she kept punching until she had blown a hole through the throat of the snake, a big grin on her face as well. "Well, that was fun!"

Nora appeared behind Yang and dragged her off of the dissolving Grimm, then hugged her. "I know! It was great! So is this whole thing with Ruby and a game thing and then there are these goopy things which are fun to blow up!"

Yang looked at Nora as she was dragged away, then smiled. "I think that we're going to be great friends! What's your STR at?"

Nora hummed a bit then grinned. "45. What's yours?"

"49. I think that it's about to be 50 though." Yang saw the look on Nora's face and snickered.

Ruby was leaning against the tree Blake was as she stood, her AP quickly going back up. She was panting heavily. "Guys…? C-Check to see if it dropped one of those tablet thingies." She flopped onto her back and then heard an odd noise as well as a red light shimmering from the bushes. She looked in the bushes and saw a crystal rose petal just floating there. She hummed, then reached out towards it. When her fingers got close enough, the petal flashed red and everything went black.

" _You can't just leave Summer! I told you that you don't need to go out hunting anymore! Think about Yang and Ruby!"_

 _There was a soft chuckling. "I'm sorry Tai Yang. But this isn't my choice. They called for all inactive hunters, and I happen to be one." Soft footsteps drew closer. Soft lips were placed on her forehead in a kiss. "I'll be back soon sweetie, okay? Mommy will miss you."_

Ruby shot up, panting heavily as her eyes darted around the area. She was still in Wonderland. ' _Good… then that was just an effect of this place… probably.'_ She got up and saw a notification in front of her.

 **You have collected a piece of the Fragmented Rose! This will be shown in your Inventory next to your Lien counter!**

Ruby sighed. "Okay… but what did it do to me?"

 **Oh. That. Well, the Fragmented Rose is something that was created when you entered Wonderland. They can be found at any time, but some might become unavailable due to… circumstances. It will show you what you want to see when you complete it. Why your mother never came back. Until then, all you will get are fleeting moments of the answer. There are twelve petals to collect! Good luck!**

Ruby sighed and then dusted herself off as she rose from the ground. She then pulled the Heart and Diamond card key fragments out of her Inventory. She walked over to the fading corpse of the Grimm and saw a thing inside of the smoke. She held her breath and walked into the smoke. She heard some weird noises, like screaming or roaring inside of the smoke, but she grabbed the item and walked out of the smoke to see that it was in fact a piece of the card key. She looked back at Yang and Blake. "You two don't happen to have one of these, do you?"

Yang smiled as she tossed her key fragment at Ruby. "Knock yourself out sis!"

Ruby caught it with her face, and it landed in her arms. She then hummed as she began to put the pieces together. She smiled when she was done and held up the thing that was made with them. "Done! We have the key to whatever Cheshire locked this Alice girl away in, so now we just need to go help her! Could you take us to her Cheshire?"

Cheshire nodded as he appeared, and then began to lead them in the only path in the area. "There is only a singular path now. Once you start on this road, there is no turning back." His grin only widened when he watched the teenagers follow him, despite the ground falling away behind them. "Very well. No looking back either."

* * *

After what felt like a good ten minutes, the group arrived at a large wall that had a small rectangle carved from it. Ruby smirked and was about to put the key in, when her wrist was caught by Cheshire's tail. "I wouldn't do that just yet. Isn't there someone else that you should introduce to your other power?"

Ruby thought for a moment, then nodded. "I completely forgot! Thanks Cheshire!" She then turned to Blake, who was looking at her funny. " **Invite Blake Belladona to the party!** "

Blake saw the window pop up in front of her, then sighed as she tapped the button with a 'Y' on it. "Yang filled me in on your power after we killed that Giant Nevermore. I'm actually more shocked that you forgot about your ability to invite people."

Ruby chuckled sheepishly. "So, does everyone have full AP?" She only received three nods in return. "T-That's your Aura. The white bar with numbers in it." She then got nods from the rest of the group. "Okay team! Activate your Aura and let's beat this boss!" When she saw everyone activate their Aura, she turned her own on and then placed the key into the hole. The tablet sank into the wall, and the wall then began to fade away into smoke.

The group saw a woman wearing an all white dress with a large bow tied on her back, a bloody skull holding it together. Her arms were dripping with red blood, and her hair, while hard to tell, was also streaked with blood, and it waved in the air like a harsh wind blew it back. The woman slowly turned her head to reveal completely red and bleeding eyes, the blood imitating tears. She stood up slowly and turned towards the group, revealing much more blood splattered on her dress. She had an insane grin on her face. "Why Cheshire! You brought me new people to play with! How thoughtful! If only you could find my bunny."

Ruby looked above the woman's head.

 **Madness Incarnate**

 **Alice**

 **LV: 60**

Her face went blank as she put up her hood and unsheathed Crescent Rose. "Cheshire sent us to help you regain your senses. But we might have to knock it into you."

Yang stepped forward and slammed her fists together. "We're gonna beat that insanity right out of you!"

Pyrrha walked in front of the group and then noticed the knife in Alice's hands. She flicked her wrist wordlessly and made the dagger fly out of Alice's hands and stab into the ground. "Surrender, and we may be able to solve this without violence."

Alice laughed like a madman. "Y-You think that a little trick like that will on the Vorpal Blade?"

Nora blinked as she unfurled her hammer. "The Vorpal what?"

Alice reached behind her and pulled the Vorpal Blade from her bow. "It will always return to me, no matter what. But if you're serious, I guess I could stop toying with you for say...five minutes before we get back to the fun stuff!"

Ruby activated her Semblance, then rushed Alice before the madwoman could do anything. Despite how fast her strikes were, Alice just stepped out of the way like they were nothing. Ruby then began to fire the gravity rounds from Crescent Rose to enhance her strikes, which just made Alice laugh.

Yang growled and then rushed Alice, throwing punch after punch at her opponent, Alice now dodging both her and her sister's attacks. Though she seemed to be getting slightly aggravated.

Ren rushed in and attacked Alice from behind with a much different Martial Arts style than Yang, instead of just trying to hit her like a boxer would, he utilized quick and precise strikes to vital areas using his knuckles to dig into the opponent more than just a fist or someone using their fingers would. Needless to say, Alice dodged these strikes as well, but her focus was now divided, allowing someone like Nora to leap above the three attackers and rain hell on Alice.

Nora grinned as she fired off her grenades in quick succession, a trace bit of electricity still arcing through her hair. She watched the three of her team mates jump back at the last possible second at the same time, making a pretty pink explosion engulf Alice. She was pulled out of the air by Blake, and fired one last grenade just to be sure.

Alice quickly leaned back and allowed the grenade to soar past her and explode near the blond boy and the redhead wearing gold. She held her blade tight and then rushed out of the pink cloud, the blood on her knife gleaming scarlet. She grinned when she saw the look of shock on her playthings face, and swiped up with her blade, only to be blocked by a white haired girl wielding a rapier. "Tell me, are those heels for show, or do they actually do something?" She somehow turned into red butterflies that flew around the clearly rich girl and struck her from behind, sending her into the air. She was ready to jump up and follow her target, when her boots stuck to the ground. She looked down and saw that the buckles on her boots were glowing black and being pulled towards the ground. She then gasped as she was sent flying away from the others.

Pyrrha dashed towards the direction she sent Alice and then slashed at the girl, only to have her turn into butterflies and attack from behind. Pyrrha spun around faster than the body could react and blocked the Vorpal Blade with her shield, then slashed at Alice again, only to have the woman turn into butterflies again and retreat backwards.

Jaune ran at Alice with his shield up and his entire body glowing white as he slashed at Alice, who dodged his slow attacks while showing off a little, even going ahead and deflecting his blade with her hand.

This distraction allowed Blake to empty her clip of bullets at Alice, and then quickly reloaded while flipping away from a downward slash that came from the insane opponent. She replaced herself with a clone and fired at Alice again, who turned into butterflies again to dodge the bullets. Blake smirked and shot one of the butterflies, forcing Alice to reform, clutching a bleeding hand.

Ruby noticed this and then held Crescent Rose in a reverse grip. She rushed towards Alice and began to attack her again, this time, the bleeding madwoman was being forced to deflect some of her attacks with her own weapon. ' _I need to be faster!'_ Ruby began to push her Semblance to its limits, trying to surpass that 50% boost that it gave her.

Nora rushed towards the two, jumped into the air, grinned, and slammed her hammer on the ground next to Alice and Ruby, making the earth under the three of them shatter as she fired her grenade launcher on the ground for extra oomph. She then spun around with her hammer outstretched and went to strike Alice, Ruby happening to be in her path.

Both Ruby and Alice dodged out of the way by flowing away from the attack in the same direction, rose petals and butterflies being left in their wake. The two locked blades and stared at each other. Ruby then smirked and pulled the trigger to Crescent Rose, giving Alice no time to dodge as a bullet shot straight through her left shoulder. She then flowed away from Alice, suddenly having to dodge peppercorns from a weird bloody and bandaged pepper grinder. ' _Dammit! A machine pepper grinder?! I NEED to go faster now! Come on game! Mercy!'_ A pinging sound was heard from somewhere. ' _Thank you!'_ Ruby quickly checked the message that she got.

 **[Flowing Petals] has progressed to Stage 2!**

 **This semblance is slowly developing faster, just like the user. Currently, while activated, it boosts the user's speed and reaction time by 100% at the cost of 5 AP per second. And while this power seems to be all beauty, beware of its thorns.**

 **Scatters those killed by the user while using this Semblance into nothingness, leaving nothing behind.**

Ruby smirked and then dashed around the area to get a handle on her newfound speed. She skidded to a halt behind Alice with a grin and then spun quickly, rose petals flying around her as she slashed through the cloud of butterflies that had formed in Alice's place. She then retreated when she heard metal slicing through the air, and grabbed her Burn Dust crystal from her Inventory. "Okay Alice. Let's see how you handle this!" She channeled Aura into the crystal, and then thrust her hand forward, sending a very large fireball at the crazed woman.

Alice looked over at Ruby to see the fireball coming her way, and froze. All she could hear were the voices of her family telling her that she killed them over and over and over again. She clutched her head as she began to shake, then threw her arms to the side and her head towards the sky, and let out a screech of sorrow and agony. A shock wave of something came from Alice and it hit everyone while snuffing the fireball out. She collapsed to her knees, and held her head, rocking herself. She kept muttering to herself. "It's my fault… it's my fault…"

Ren stared at Alice, and immediately thought back to his own childhood, when he… He shook away those thoughts, stood up and reloaded his weapons just in case.

Nora looked at Ren after she saw Alice, then walked over to the boss and crouched down next to her. "Hey… are… are you okay? Because you're supposed to be, y'know… killing us." When she didn't get a response, she gently patted Alice's back and shook her head, because she had no clue how to comfort her.

Cheshire appeared next to Ruby. "Well… she's no longer hostile, so I believe that is progress. Nice work with the fire, by the way. It's one of her worst fears. Not the fire itself, but the memories and madness it brings."

Ruby glanced at Cheshire, then walked over to Alice, patted Nora's shoulder, and then watched the oranged haired girl leave. "You lost someone important to you, didn't you…?"

Alice stopped rocking back and forth, then looked up at Ruby, her green and bleeding eyes staring into the reaper's silver ones.

Ruby sighed softly. "I lost my mother. The official story is that she died in a routine hunting mission… but I know that's not the truth. Otherwise all the inactive hunters wouldn't have been called in on the same mission…I have some ideas why we weren't told the truth, but I still want to know. I kept spiralling downwards, becoming more and more desperate, hiding it all behind a silly grin. But my sister caught me one night, and talked me through it. She told me that I wasn't alone in searching, that I didn't need to fall deeper into my own depression. Then she got drunk and started punching things, but, that's just Yang." She stared into Alice's eyes, her own becoming very sad. "You… You didn't have anyone that wanted to help, did you? No one to catch you before it was too late…"

Alice slowly shook her head, the bloody tears being replaced with normal ones. The blood in her hair began to fade, and her skin was returning to normal.

Ruby smiled softly, trying to do what Yang did for her to Alice. "I'm sure that there are other people trying to find the truth, or at least, there are some people who will help if you ask. Like Cheshire, for instance. He was worried about you, and thought that you were going to lose yourself to your madness. Or… that's what he called it. There have got to be other people like him that are willing to help you. Find them first, and if you get answers along the way, that's perfect. Just don't push yourself down deeper into your head."

Alice's dress became blue with a white apron, and her blade became much less bloody. The identification stuff above her head changed as well.

 **Victim of Lust**

 **Alice Liddell**

 **LV: 30**

Alice held her head as he stood. She looked around, seemingly very confused. "Who are you all? And how did you get here?"

Yang walked over to Ruby, a grin on her face. "Wow sis. You talked another person out of fighting again! If you didn't do it so much at Signal, it would've been impressive, like that fireball, but now it's kinda boring."

Ruby sighed and ignored Yang for the moment. "I hope you find… whatever it is that you're looking for Alice." She looked at her feet when she felt a numbness and saw smoke beginning to surround her. "Good luck! Maybe we'll meet again!"

Alice watched the teenagers disappear in smoke, then looked over at Cheshire. "Why did you send them away?"

Cheshire grinned as he moved over to Alice's side. "It was their time to leave. Don't worry. I left something for the silver eyed girl so she can come back here."

Alice sighed as she looked forward. "Alright then. I suppose we should get moving then? We've dawdled enough as it is."

Cheshire chuckled as he followed Alice deeper into Wonderland. "If you say so, Alice."

* * *

 **!Quest Complete!**

 **Welcome to Madness Part 1: Down the Rabbit Hole**

 **Main objective 1: Retrieve all 4 card keys**

 **Main objective 2: Defeat Alice**

 **Main objective 3: Escape Wonderland**

 **Side objective 1: Defeat 20 ?**

 **Side objective 2: Find a piece the Fragmented Rose**

 **Rewards: 5500 EXP, 1300 Lien, Skill book, Quest line unlocked**

Ruby groaned as she opened her eyes. "Ugh… why do I have a headache…?" She looked around her and saw a book with Cheshire's face on the cover with a note on it. It said 'READ ME'. Ruby sighed and opened grabbed the book, and opened it for another note to fall out. She picked that up and read it out loud. "Here's to a more purrrfect visit next time. Oh my god he actually wrote that." Ruby sighed and examined the book, then a window popped up in front of her.

 **You have attained the skill book for [Dungeon Projection]**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Ruby chuckled at that and ignored that for now to look at the battle log she didn't have time to read.

 **Battle Log:**

 **[Aura] has gained a level!**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **[Dust Casting] has gained a level!**

 **[Rifle Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Scythe Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Teamwork] has gained a level!**

 **[Teamwork] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained the ally: Pyrrha Nikos**

 **You have gained the otherworldly ally: Alice Liddell**

 **You have gained the otherworldly ally: Cheshire Cat**

 **Pyrrha Nikos: x1.5 EXP to all sword, shield, and spear related skills.**

 **Otherworldly Allies are different than normal allies. As they are not normally around you, their effects are more passive than for training**

 **Alice Liddell: +25% damage to all enemies when using daggers or machine weapons**

 **Cheshire Cat: + x.5 effectiveness to all stealth skills**

Ruby nodded at the new information and then pressed **[Yes]** on the book.

 **Dungeon Projection** **(Active): LVL: 1 EXP: 0.00% MP Cost: 20: A lost art of magic, only regained through otherworldly means.**

 **Project yourself in and out of dungeons**

 **Available dungeons: Blank, Grimm, Wonderland**

 **More info and dungeons will be released to you as the skill grows stronger.**

Nora made an odd noise as she stared at something that looked like a chess piece. She swiped the white tower piece and began to sing. "I'm queen of the castle~~! I'm queen of the castle~~!"

"Nora!" Ren called to Nora as he stood up. He looked around and saw everyone from the dungeon was moved to… whatever this place was. There were chess pieces arranged in a semicircle on pillars. Some of the pillars were empty. "It looks like we weren't the first ones here."

Yang walked over to a white knight piece and grabbed it while looking at Blake. "I found a cute little pony! And I'm keeping it!"

Ren came to a realization, and his face barely showed it. "This was what Cheshire's first riddle was about. He said that 'all life really is, is chess.' Maybe he means our school lives are tied to these pieces."

Jaune walked over to a tower piece and grabbed it with slight hesitation. "Pyrrha, do you want to be on a team with Ren and Nora?"

Pyrrha smiled and waved her hands in front of her. "I really don't mind who we're paired up with Jaune!"

Ruby walked over to Jaune and smiled as she took the white knight piece next to him. "Well, it looks like we won't be on the same team. Bummer. But hopefully we can still hang out and stuff! I mean, it's not like each of our teams are going to be split apart in separate dorms, right?"

Jaune nodded. "Right. We'll probably get separate rooms, but I don't think that we'll be in different dorms."

Ozpin chuckled as he watched the group of eight through his tablet. "Well now, it looks like they figured it out. I'll have to put that in their report along with 'disappearing from the test for two hours and reappearing in a pyre of smoke at the relic site'." He took a sip from his coffee mug, only to find that it was empty. "Damn. Out of coffee."

Glynda glared at Ozpin. "So this doesn't concern you at all? Eight of our students just appeared from thin air, and you aren't even bothered?"

Ozpin looked at Glynda and then smiled. "If I was concerned, then they wouldn't be here. Besides, it seems that they came back stronger."

Glynda sighed. "Still, that should not justify that they disappeared! WHat are we going to tell the staff about this?"

"That it was part of Miss Rose's semblance." Ozpin looked at his cup to see that his coffee had returned and sipped at it. "We don't know what it does, and for all we know, this could be a part of it. But I'll speak to her after the exams to see if I can get an explanation."

Glynda shook her head as she looked out to the forest. "Well… at least they aren't all going to perish on their first mission."

* * *

Ruby and Jaune were on their backs panting heavily at the top of the cliff. She looked at the blonde and chuckled. "Thank Oum for minimaps, huh?"

Jaune nodded as he caught his breath. "Looks like... we're the first ones back… because of it."

Yang helped Ruby to her feet, then picked Jaune up. "Well, we got through it! And we are now students of Beacon! So I guess we go back and do whatever we want?" She looked at Ozpin and Glynda.

Glynda tapped the tablet she was holding a few times. "Team placement is at five in the afternoon. Until then, I believe that you are free."

Nora whooped and grabbed Ren's wrist. "C'mon Renny! Let's get some pancakes!" She dragged her companion off towards the cafeteria, practically drooling over the idea.

Pyrrha looked around for a moment and then looked Jaune in the eye. "Why don't we go practice our technique for fighting?"

Jaune nodded silently and began to walk towards the training grounds with Pyrrha. "I'll see you guys at the team placement!"

Ruby waved Jaune goodbye and then turned to look at Blake and Weiss. "So! I vote that we all say our strengths and weaknesses, then go to the gym and work on them!"

Weiss looked at Ruby questioningly. "And how is one day of training going to improve us at all?"

Yang smirked as she placed a hand on her hip. "We'll explain on the way. Come on." She then began to walk in a random direction when Ruby stopped her.

"Yang, the gym is this way." She pointed Yang in the right direction and then looked back at her other two teammates again. "So…?"

Blake shrugged and then walked with Yang, agreeing to this whole thing for now.

Weiss looked down at her feet, then sighed. "Fine. I suppose that it can't hurt."

Ruby suddenly grabbed Weiss and used her Semblance to catch up with Blake and Yang in a second. She then explained the way the various stats worked and how to train them, as well as how her power accelerated training by shifting it to an equation that she… hasn't quite figured out yet, but the changes were immediate. "That said, Yang, I don't think that you should get to fifty STR yet. We don't know what it will do, and if it somehow hurts you… well, I can recover from it much faster. Okay?"

Yang nodded with a sigh. "Fine sis. I'll trust you on this one. So I should work on my DEX?"

Ruby hummed a bit. "Well, I think that an extended jog will raise your VIT faster than your DEX, which you need."

Weiss's eyes narrowed. "So, you're saying that if we raise any of these numbers past fifty, it could be dangerous?"

Ruby sighed. "I don't know if it's dangerous or not, but I don't want you guys to take the risk. I can use my spare Stat Points to raise my DEX to forty-four so we can find out sooner rather than later."

Blake nodded. "Seems fair. So how do you check these stats?"

"Ooooo. You forgot to tell them sis." Yang nudged Ruby teasingly. "Well, all you gotta say is the word 'Status' while wanting to look at your stats. Easy. I think that Ruby can do it with her thoughts though."

Weiss and Blake immediately checked their stats.

 **Name: Weiss Schnee**

 **Job: Student**

 **Title: Glyph Caster**

 **Semblance: Glyph Caster (Stage 3)**

 **LV: 33 Next Level: 91.43%**

 **HP: 575/575 (Regen 11.5)**

 **AP: 1600/1600 (Regen 32[11.5 + 20.5])**

 **STR: 25**

 **VIT: 23**

 **DEX: 28**

 **INT: 41**

 **WIS: 13**

 **LUK: 5**

 **Name: Blake Belladonna**

 **Job: Student**

 **Title: Shadow Cat**

 **Semblance: Shadow Cat (Stage 2)**

 **LV: 37 Next Level: 37.41%**

 **HP: 650/650 (Regen 13)**

 **AP: 1500/1500 (Regen 30[13+17])**

 **STR: 31**

 **VIT: 26**

 **DEX: 35**

 **INT: 34**

 **WIS: 17**

 **LUK: 5**

Blake nodded with a smile. "So, this just puts numbers to our attributes huh? Well, it looks like I'm a DEX slash INT character."

Ruby snickered. "That's usually what monks or ninjas are! And I think that it's a safe bet that Weiss is a high INT build? That's the typical build for a mage."

Weiss just nodded to confirm what Ruby said. "Besides that, my first three stats are pretty well balanced. But why does it say my Semblance is at Stage 3?"

Ruby stared at Weiss. "Your thing is already at Stage 3?! How long have you been training it? I _just_ got mine to stage two out of desperation!"

Weiss smirked, this time her smugness being justified. "I've trained with my glyphs since I could use them. Everyday I pushed myself to get as far as I have, but it only being at Stage 3 is somewhat discouraging."

Yang scoffed. "Mine's still at Stage 1, bit if Ruby's got a rank up, mine will probably go up soon too if I keep using it!" She then burst out laughing as she watched her sister walk face first into the door to the gym.

Ruby quickly recovered and then glared at Yang. "Give me your ankle weights before you start training. They're probably heavier than mine and I can get my STR up as I run. I should be able to raise my DEX much faster now that my Semblance ranked up."

Yang sighed and then tossed her ankle weights to Ruby. "Fine. Use them."

Ruby immediately equipped them and smiled. "Weiss, Blake, both of you should work on VIT, because that is how much health you have, which also transfers to Aura. I would jog with Yang to raise it. So we're all getting treadmills!" She activated her Semblance again and then rushed towards a free treadmill and cranked up the speed to something she could barely keep up with at her top speed.

 **Faster! FASTER! + 1 DEX**

She got that after a few minutes of running. With the new upgrade, she'd hit that 50 mark in no time.

"Ugh! Ruby! I can't see with all the petals!"

"I will burn these stupid things if they make me trip sis!"

* * *

There was clapping as Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren walked up to the stage.

Ozpin looked at them with an impassive face. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie." He watched the four of them line up in front of him. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. So from this day forth, you will work together as team JNPR(Juniper)."

Nora giggled as she hugged Ren around his neck.

"Led by…" Ozpin smirked internally as he looked at Jaune. "Jaune Arc."

Jaune's jaw hit the floor. "M-Me?" He gulped. "L-Led by?"

Ozpin smiled and looked Jaune in the eyes. "Congratulations young man. I expect great things from you and your friends."

Jaune was too busy gaping to notice Pyrrha punching him in the arm. He fell on his backside after flying a foot away from where he was. There was more clapping as Pyrrha helped him back to his feet and exited the stage after Nora and Ren.

Ozpin looked back up at the screen. "And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." He waited for them to arrive onto the stage as they lined up in front of him. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team RWBY. Led by, Ruby Rose."

Ruby had to take a moment for that to register, then an open smile quickly creeped its way onto her face. She then gasped for air as she felt something crushing her.

Yang hugged her sister harder. "I'm so proud of you!" She lifted her sister up and spun her around. "This is going to be the best four years ever!"

 **!QUEST COMPLETE!**

 **Welcome to Beacon!**

 **Main Objective 1: Find your partner**

 **Main Objective 2: Find the temple and select a relic**

 **Main Objective 3: Return to the Cliff**

 **Main Objective 4: Arrive at your team placement**

 **Side Objective 1: Become a Teammate with an ally**

 **Side Objective 2: Slay 15 Beowolves**

 **Side Objective 3: Slay 1 ?**

 **Rewards: New job 'Student', 2000 EXP, 500 Lien, Ally benefits upgraded, 1 canister of random affinity of Grade 2 Dust**

 **Yang Xiao Long/Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee ally benefits have been upgraded!**

 **Yang Xiao Long: X1.5 EXP increase to STR training, all Martial skills and weapons, and fire based abilities**

 **Blake Belladonna: X1.5 EXP to DEX training, all Stealth skills, and Whip/Whip-like related weapons**

 **Weiss Schnee: X1.5 EXP to INT training, and all Dust based skills**

Ozpin chuckled. "It looks like things are shaping up to be an...interesting year."

* * *

Ruby sat down next to Amber's life support pod and activated her Aura Regen and began transferring Aura to her at a rate of 290 per second. "So… I'm an official student of Beacon now. Yay! Umm… I would ask how your day's been, but…" She sighed and looked up at the pod. "You know… I can hear the elements too. Not all of them, and only when they're in pain, but I've heard them before."

Amber's hand twitched subtly at that.

Ruby chuckled softly. "I got a connection to lightning today. Just something small, had to shock something with Dust. The element responded and it looks like it liked what it saw. I can't use magic though. Not yet anyways." She sighed and stared at her affinities. "You know, I'm connected to fire wind and lightning, but I don't know how to connect to water and earth. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to meditate near those, or open my soul to them or what, but I don't know how to do it. Maybe… when you wake up, you could teach me…?" Ruby shook her head. "Even though you can hear me, you can't respond… But I'll be here all night. I don't need sleep."

Amber's hand twitched again, much less faint than the first one.

Ruby sighed. "So… I got six points in my DEX today… oh. You don't know about my power. Basically, my life is a game and I can bring others into it. It basically streamlines training and lets me gather info on others. DEX makes me faster, which is important for my Semblance. It amplifies my speed by one hundred percent, but I can only keep it up for so long. The cost isn't that bad at first glance, but it's based on seconds, so it lasts three minutes if I keep using it. I also got two points in my STR, which is how strong you are. And four in my VIT, which is how long you can live."

Ozpin cleared his throat to make himself known.

Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin. "P-Professor Ozpin! Um… h-how long were you there?"

Ozpin chuckled softly. "Long enough, Miss Rose." He walked over to the console and tapped it a few times to bring up something that Ruby didn't understand. "Amber's vitals have been improving. It's slight, but it's more progress than I expected. You're doing well."

Ruby blushed at the praise. "T-Thank you. But I haven't done much. She isn't even moving yet."

Ozpin shook his head. "On the contrary, even if she isn't moving, she is recovering at an accelerated rate. If you keep this up, I suspect that she will be speaking within the year."

Ruby nodded. "Well… it's still a year that she has to go without any real interaction. She can't move to tell us that she's there, and because of that, she can't tell us who attacked her."

Ozpin looked at Ruby with a smile. "It's a better situation than when she was originally brought here. And we should take any improvement as a blessing." He sighed and patted Ruby's shoulder. "I assume that your ability means that you don't need sleep either?"

Ruby nodded. "I can do this all night. I'll get some more Aura from it too, and some levels to my skills like this, so I really don't mind it, but healing Amber is a priority, right? If she's a maiden, we'll need her to fight… whatever it is that you haven't told me about, and it's not _just_ the grimm. There's always a bigger bad in games, so I guess that's the case here?"

Ozpin's look shifted to a questioning one. "You believe that there is a bigger threat than the Grimm because of some logic based on a video game?" He then sighed. " _If_ there is, you aren't ready to learn about it. Just keep getting stronger Ruby. _If_ your hunch is right, then you'll need your power to get as strong as you can." He sipped his coffee and then began to walk away. "Have a good night, Miss Rose."

Ruby waited for Ozpin to leave before she stood up and looked at Amber. "Well… that wasn't ominous at all."

A small smile grew on Amber's face.

* * *

 **I apologize for the slow update, but I've struck a lack of motivation. Not a writer's block, I have enough ideas and can write just fine, it's just difficult to find a reason lately. I'll still continue, but it will be at a delayed rate. I apologize again for this. So… stuff.**

 **Nora: *snickers***

 **What's so funny…?**

 **Nora: You have something drawn on your face!**

 ***holds up a mirror, then groans* MEW! GET IN HERE!**

 **Mew: You'll never take me alive!**


	7. Dungeons and Qrow

**Okay! So I got that stuff off of my face! Mew has been banned from cookies for a month.**

 **Mew: You heartless bastard!**

 **Quiet! So! Another update that wasn't as soon as it should have been. Still, have a slight lack of motivation, but I feel like I need to do this. I actually always feel terrible for making you guys wait for this stuff. So! Reviews!**

 **Plasma Dragon 312: Well, she knows, and who knows how soon she'll be able to move her arm?**

 **Have a Little Feith: Amber requested that Ruby not tell Ozpin.**

 **Merendinoemiliano: Thank you for your praise, I really don't deserve it, or really do the fight scenes in the actual show that much justice, but it's appreciated nonetheless. I reread the chapter after I posted it on impulse, and I really did jump the gun on Jaune getting his Semblance, huh? I mean, I like the character a lot and I didn't want him to stay powerless for four Volumes and only work as a strategist I mean Rooster Teeth keeps saying that Jaune has so much potential I just wanted to be nice and give him his powers! Hah…. Hah… But yeah! It is badass, like all of the Semblances, but because it starts out higher on the badass scale, it's more costly as well. I think I have it as 50 AP per second of use. I'll have to check my notes again. And as for your ideas on the Grimm, it is plausible that they were once normal creatures that were twisted by dark forces. The scientist thing works as well, though I had an epiphany about what I would make my origins of the Grimm come from. I will tell this to everyone though, all three of my Gamer stories are connected in some way. I don't really want to say, but I couldn't keep that part hidden any longer.**

 **MysticSpider: That wasn't really the point of Wonderland being here, but you'll see as I post more. And….I….actually have no idea what to say about that butt comment.**

 **Mew: Say 'Thank you!'**

 **…. Saint of vice koncor: She doesn't have the skill 'Aura Drain' yet. That would actually be a secondary usage of 'Aura Transfer' once it gets to a high enough level. Besides, think of it as concentration spells in D &D. Well, when I GM the mage can cast two, but if they do that, they can no longer move.**

 **Gold1992** **: Tutorial-sama is dead. He committed seppuku the moment he was disgraced by you revealing his flaws. Anyways, yeah, Tutorial will be addressed this chapter, which is actually what I planned to do from the start.**

 **LadyCalus: I actually have no clue on how to get my story into that. One of my other ones is already in there, but I don't know how it got there. Do I just message the creator or admins of the group to get my stories in there?**

 **lordrednight: I really appreciate your kind words, though your opinion may change after this chapter. I don't know. Whenever I put something out here, I just hope that people like it enough to keep reading. I have received absolutely no flamers yet, which I'm happy about, but at the same time, my motivation is being chipped away by time. So this chapter may be of lower quality than the others, and for that, I apologize to everyone in advance. And I used to prefer Jaune Gamers as well. That was actually the original concept of it, but then I thought that I want this one to stand among the lesser known Ruby Gamers. She fits so well into the role that I couldn't make myself force Jaune into the spotlight. At least, not as the Gamer. The same goes for my other Gamer stories. I planned on using different characters at first, but I went down the list and whenever a character clicked with the role the most, that's the one I went for. It's why the Persona Gamer story is Persona 4 and not Persona 3. And the Naruto Gamer is Shika simply because I liked Shika and felt that there were so many plot holes in his character that the Gamer would be perfect for him and his analytical mind. So...enough about me bragging about how I chose the Protagonist of each story and onto much more interesting things.**

 **Mew: You aren't talking to me. Why?**

 **You drew penises on my face while I was writing. How did you even do that?!**

 **Mew: Secret~**

 **I swear it's like you're five.**

 **Mew: Thank you!**

 **That wasn't a… ugh… nevermind. Enjoy the chapter everyone!**

* * *

"Speech"  
'Scroll Message'  
' _Thought'  
_ **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

Ruby groaned as she opened her eyes. She saw a blue window in front of her, which she ignored for the moment. She looked around and saw that she was still inside of the vault… place… thingy. "Oh… I must've fallen asleep…" She stretched a bit and then stood up. "Huh. I guess falling asleep from not moving around is still a thing." She checked up on Amber's vitals on the screen, then finally paid the windows in front of her some mind.

 **You've rested on the cold hard floor. 5% HP, MP, and AP restored**

 **Congratulations on getting into Beacon! With a team name that matches your name as well! Kudos! But unfortunately, this is where the fun stops. The Tutorial phase has ended! Battle Logs will still be implemented, but from now on, you won't get any more explanations or cookies from this. Good luck~**

Ruby stared at the now empty space. "N-No more cookies…?" She fell to her knees and stared at the ground. "No…" She heard someone's throat being cleared and looked up.

Glynda tapped her foot on the floor, looking down at Ruby. "If you're done moping about… whatever it is you're moping about, classes start today so it would be wise to return to your team."

Ruby nodded as she stood. "What time is it…?"

Glynda looked at her scroll. "It's 4:30 AM. Why are you even in here this late? It isn't healthy."

Ruby shrugged. "I want to help Amber. That's it. I know that I don't need sleep, but I can anyway, so I guess I chose to fall asleep…" She rubbed the back of her head and then looked back at Amber. "I'll be back later today Amber. I hope that you're feeling a little better." She then got to the elevator as fast as she could, getting rose petals all over the place.

Glynda's eye twitched as she looked at the rose petals on the ground, then sighed in relief when they faded. "Hmm… a little color here and there wouldn't hurt."

* * *

Ruby panted as she knocked on the door to her room. "Guys! Open up! I forgot my key!" She leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees.

Weiss sighed as she walked to the door and opened it to see her winded leader. "Ruby, why were you out so late?"

Ruby held up a finger as she tried to catch her breath, then sighed. "Okay, so I might've been helping someone and fell asleep while doing it."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "I thought that you didn't need sleep."

Ruby shrugged. "I guess being bored is still a thing." She then saw the room and saw four beds lined up in a row. "T-There's no room for our stuff in here."

Weiss groaned. "I know. It's the weirdest thing. They gave us all these books, but we can barely move around with all of this crap here."

Ruby hummed in thought, then gasped. "We can make bunk beds!"

Yang appeared behind Ruby, her hair somehow perfect from just getting out of bed. "Did somebody say bunk beds?!"

Blake also appeared behind Ruby. "It would free up some space for us to walk around in."

Ruby's head shot towards Blake. "Not you too…"

Weiss's eye twitched as she looked at the two other girls. "H-How did you two…?"

Ruby sighed. "Weiss… I learned not to question it. I don't want you to think about this too hard. Yang doesn't know how she does it, and Blake probably won't tell."

Blake shrugged. "I trained in stealth while I was with my parents. Mixing speed into that isn't that hard."

Ruby whined. "Why Oum…? Why must you always prove me wrong?"

Yang slapped Ruby on the back. "Cheer up sis! We get bunk beds! I'll head into town and get some supplies, and maybe a book about crafting to see if you can get a new skill from it!" She quickly got dressed and then left the room. "I'll be back in a bit!"

Weiss sighed. "Oh well. Looks like we can't really do anything in our room right now. Do you two want to do anything?"

Ruby smiled. "Well, I can open dungeons now, so we can do stuff in there, get some Lien, some EXP, and level our skills."

Blake's attention shifted to something in the left side of her vision. "Maybe we should ask Team JNPR before we drag them into something."

Weiss nodded and walked across the hall and knocked on the door. She was about to call out when the door was flung open and a wild Nora appeared and tackled her.

Nora smiled at Weiss. "Morning Weissy! It's such a beautiful morning for pancakes, isn't it?!"

Ren ran out of the room. "Don't answer that! If you do, she'll either eat all of the pancakes in the school or kill you."

Weiss nodded and tried to push Nora off of her.

Ruby smirked and tackled Nora by using her Semblance. "Good morning Nora! You want to break some things?"

Nora gasped loudly, with stars in her eyes. "Do I?!"

Jaune pulled Ruby off of Nora and chuckled nervously. "O-Okay guys! Let's cool it down! No breaking stuff right now, okay?"

Nora pouted.

Ruby chuckled nervously, then snickered at the footie pajamas Jaune was wearing. "Well, it just so happens that I can make dungeons on my own now! So we can break stuff in there!"

Nora immediately cheered up. "Can we go now?!"

Ruby looked at the rest of team JNPR. "Are you guys ready to go?"

Pyrrha held up a finger. "Give us one moment." She then used her Semblance to pull the rest of her team inside of their room.

Ruby smiled and looked at Weiss and Blake. "I think that we need to get dressed now!"

Blake was leaning against the door, reading a book, already dressed for battle. "Did you say something Ruby?"

Weiss sighed and then walked over to her many cases of clothes and began to get dressed.

Ruby waited patiently, then noticed a list of names in the left part of her vision. It was everyone in the party, with Yang's name being greyed out. "Huh. Maybe she's too far away. I didn't think that there would be a range thing for this." She shrugged. "Oh well. It's not like we'll be far away from each other very often."

Weiss walked back to Ruby with her normal clothes on and Myrtenaster in hand. "Alright, I'm ready. Are th-" She had to dodge Nora to avoid being tackled twice in the span of five minutes.

Jaune walked out with a nervous smile on his face. "Okay, I think that we're ready."

Ruby nodded and pulled up the skill, read it quickly, then nodded again. "Okay then! **[Dungeon Projection: Grimm]."** She raised her hand dramatically as it glowed blue, then a pulse of Mana came from Ruby, wrapping around the party, then sending them into a mostly carbon copy of the hallway they were in before. Plus the excessive amounts of blood and viscera. "Okay! Done."

Weiss looked around. "It looks the sa- OH MY OUM!" She jumped into Nora's arms when she saw the bloody, beaten, and shredded corpse near them. It was a fresh kill, and whatever had killed it had big claws. "Ruby! Why are there dead bodies in your dungeon?!"

Ruby shrugged as she walked over to the corpse. "I dunno." She crouched down and then poked the face of the corpse, and inspected it. "But it isn't anyone I saw from the school. Hmmm… okay, well, if there are any more bodies that look exactly like this guy, then it means that the bodies are just there as part of the creep factor in the dungeon."

Ren looked at the body impassively. "Or maybe it is a warning for whoever enters this place to leave. A tactic that was used commonly in wars to dissuade an enemy faction from proceeding into an area."

Pyrrha shook her head as she stared at the body as well. "No. If that were the case, then it would be positioned in such a way. Grimm have done that before. This looks more like a meal that was interrupted by something."

Jaune was hiding behind Nora, staring at his three friends around the body. "H-How are you three okay with this?! That's a dead body! Someone was killed here!"

Nora smiled as she turned around, her pupils extremely dilated. "What body? I don't see any body, do you Jaune?"

Jaune was about to respond when Nora grabbed his arms and began to squeeze tight.

"There. Is. No. Body. Right Jaune…?"

Jaune gulped and nodded. "R-Right. No body. There's no body there."

Ruby wiped the blood that got onto her hands on the shirt of the dead guy, then held Crescent Rose. "Alright! Keep close, don't do any of that horror movie stuff where we split up because we see something shiny, and for Oum's sake, try to keep quiet _when_ we see another body." She then glanced at a large crack in the wall next to her. "Nora, wanna break down a wall?"

Nora was already leaning on her hammer like she finished when the wall exploded outwards to reveal the campus. She sniffed the air. "I love the smell of destruction in the morning!"

Blake walked to the hole and peered out. "It looks like the campus is swarming with Grimm. Most of them are Beowolves, but there are some Ursai, Boarbatusk, and… I think that's a Beringal, but it could just be another Beowolf. It's kinda hard to see from here."

Ruby squinted her eyes, but it was really hard to see the names. "You can make all of that out from here? That's amazing!"

Nora spun her hammer. "Less talky! More smashy!" She opened the wall up more and then jumped out of the building, laughing.

Ren groaned. "Nora…" He then ran out after her, running down the wall of the building for a moment, then pushing off to join Nora's dive.

Ruby held her scythe in front of her, then fell straight backward with her eyes closed.

Pyrrha quickly 'equipped' her weapons and then dove out the hole in the wall, her blade outstretched and her shield blocking the wind from cutting her face.

Weiss sighed and then calmly walked out of the hole, immediately falling.

Blake sighed as well, then hopped out of the hole.

Jaune walked over to the hole and stared down. "T-That's a long drop… You sure that I'm going to be-" A black ribbon wrapped around Jaune's ankle. "-okay AAA!" He was yanked off of his feet and through the hole, immediately screaming.

Ruby spun around sightly, then opened her eyes to reveal a slight glow to them. She also noticed that the notification for using her trait didn't pop up, so yay. She activated her Semblance and shot towards an unsuspecting Beowolf, her speed allowing her to catch the Grimm at the top of its head and slice right through it, the girl impacting the ground hard, taking a hit to her AP from that. There were five more impacts around her.

Nora slammed Magnhild down on the skull of another Beowolf as she landed, making its head explode as she fired a grenade. "Ruby! No fair! The person who jumps first is supposed to land first!"

Ren landed nearly silently next to Nora. "Nora, remember, it's not about who lands first. It's just that we land and we live."

Pyrrha landed in a crouch, making her seem like the professional one of the group.

Weiss used a series of glyphs to slow her decent enough to where she landed gracefully on the ground. "That was… well, I would prefer that we don't do anything like that again."

Blake landed silently on the ground, and slowly stood up straight in a very practiced manner. "I actually find falling from extreme heights is almost as liberating as reading a book."

Ruby looked around. "Hey, where's Jaune?"

Jaune hit the ground hard, the black ribbon that was around his ankle gone. He slowly raised up a hand. "… I would like to say… that… really hurt."

Pyrrha covered her mouth to keep a giggle in. "Well, maybe next time you should land on your feet. You didn't have a landing strategy in the Emerald Forest either." She grabbed Jaune by the wrist and pulled him up, seeing that his Aura protected him from the harm that would have befallen him if he didn't have it.

Jaune dusted off his clothes. "Thanks…" He then looked around and flinched at the amount of Grimm around them. "Umm… guys? I don't know if you see what I see" "We do." "but there's a hoard of Grimm around us" "We know." "and we're about to die!"

Ruby shook her head. "We aren't going to die Jaune! Because here, we don't have to hold back!" She closed her eyes and held her hand near her face. " _I call to the spirits of fire! Hear my plea!"_ In the back of her mind, she was wondering where the words were coming from.

 _"We hear you miss Rose! But you are not ready for this power! Call upon us near an open flame and we will discuss terms."_

Ruby opened her eyes to see cinders form around her hand for a moment, then disappear. She sighed and then dashed over to a group of Beowolves and fired off three Gravity rounds, and decapitated the entire group. "Okay, let's go!"

Nora grinned maliciously at the hoard of Grimm and then yelled loudly as she rushed towards them in a random direction, swinging wildly and hitting many of them.

Ren unfurled his weapons and then began to fire at the Grimm hoard. "Jaune's right. Our chances of survival are fairly low right now."

Weiss nodded and then spun the barrel of her rapier and it landed on a grey color. Gunmetal grey to be exact. She pointed the tip of the blade on the ground and metal spikes burst from the ground. "Pyrrha! You can use these!"

Pyrrha nodded and ran over to Weiss and touched the spikes to make her Semblance lest costly. She then began to glow black as she raised the spikes into the air. Pyrrha made the spikes point towards the Grimm, and then threw them towards their targets, impaling rows Grimm at once, even tearing a few in half, more or less.

Blake looked over at Ren, then threw her scythe at him, hitting the Beowolf that was creeping up behind him. She then replaced herself with a clone which launched her towards Ren. She flipped over him and threw her weapon forward again, impaling a Grimm in the chest. She then pulled hard on it, bringing the Grimm to her. She looked at Ren again. "Care to help me?"

Ren grabbed onto the black ribbon and nodded, pulling at it as well, the two now pulling hard enough to drag it. The two then began to spin the Beowolf and used it to hit every Grimm within range of the two.

Ruby looked around and then shook her head. "Nope! Sorry guys! But we can't train in this place!" She held her hand up and it glowed red. " **[Dungeon Projection: Blank!]"** The Grimm immediately disappeared and the group was sent to an actual carbon copy of Beacon, just devoid of all sentient life.

Nora turned to Ruby. "What was _that_ for…? I was having fun!" She slammed her hammer into the ground, making spiderweb cracks appear under the weapon. "Man… can I at least destroy some other stuff?"

Ruby nodded with a smile, then jumped back as shards of wall and building began to fly all over the place. She then looked at the battle log with the same smile. She got 5000 more Lien, and that was actually it. She didn't really do much, so it was understandable. "Hey, does anyone know how to jump around like a ninja?"

Everyone but Blake and Ren stepped back. They looked at their comrades, both feeling betrayed. Ren stepped forward. "Yes. It was a part of my training."

Ruby bounced on the balls of her feet. "Can you teach me?! I feel like it'll work really well with my scythe!"

Ren looked at Nora, who was still destroying buildings. "I can teach you the movements, but it's more difficult to move silently. You get bonuses from allies, right? What do you get from me?"

Ruby hummed as he pulled up the **Ally** page and then nodded. "Bonuses to Dagger, Pistol, and SMG skills. Blake gives me a Stealth training bonus."

Ren looked at Blake, then nodded at her. "Alright. Seeing as you don't get any bonuses to movement based skills, let's get you some form of passive movement ability."

Jaune held his shield in front of him as he blocked a series of strikes from Pyrrha. He felt his arm quiver with each blow he took.

Pyrrha smiled as she stepped back. "Good! You're keeping your shield up, but you're keeping it straight. You need to angle your shield so that blades don't just strike the shield, they glance off of it and you'll have less maintenance to do and the impact will be lessened."

Jaune nodded and then saw a notification saying that he got a 20% increase in his shield mastery skill for taking advice from an expert. He then held up a hand and then pulled out his phone. "I saw that I had a skill called **[Rhythmic Combat]** and it says that I get a bonus when fighting if I listen to music." He pulled his scroll out of his pocket, put his earbuds in and turned on 'Die' from Casey Lee Williams. Jaune immediately felt lighter as he began to listen to the song. He took a deep breath, then began to move to the beat of the song. "Okay! Ready!"

Pyrrha nodded and then ran towards Jaune and slashed at him, only to have her blade deflected. "Better. Now try and dodge this Jaune!" She jumped back and then threw her newly shifted spear at the blonde, only for him to lean out of the way, then rush towards her.

Jaune jumped into the air and then slashed down at Pyrrha, his blade glancing off of her shield. He flipped over and struck the shield with an ax kick, then flipped back, his feet clamped around the metal disc, prying it from Pyrrha's arm. He released it halfway through the flip, making it go flying, and noticed that he flipped over the spear somehow. He rushed Pyrrha again and began to strike at her, his attacks and movements matching the tempo of the song, and his counters always offbeat. They were very sloppy, but they served the purpose of putting the gladiator on the defensive. He suddenly backed away as the song switched to 'It's My Turn' by the same artist. He seemed to be slower.

Pyrrha took advantage of this and began to strike back, but saw that Jaune was more proficient in defense while his blade hand twitched slowly as if acting like a metronome. She began to strike faster than his twitching but was still blocked. ' _I might have to increase the intensity of the training.'_ She then raised her shield to block a sudden strike, now seeing that his shield arm was twitching at a much faster rate. The song drastically changed tempo.

Nora looked over at Jaune and saw that he was wearing earbuds. She rushed over to him and pulled them out to listen to the music.

Jaune's eyes widened, then yelled as he fell forward, unable to stop the momentum from what would've been a well-placed strike, but instead he fell flat on the ground. "O-Ow…"

Pyrrha gasped a little. "Jaune!" She helped him up and then dusted him off. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize that I was trying so hard!"

Nora hummed as she listened to the music but then shook her head. "Weird music Jaune. It changes speed a lot."

Jaune shrugged. "Thanks, Pyrrha." He looked back at Nora. "I like music like that. It has variety." He then rubbed the back of his head and looked back at Pyrrha. "I wanted to test out a skill that improves my combat effectiveness when I'm listening to music. Got a level in it too, but no increases."

Nora gasped. "How did you get that?! Please tell me! It'd make my breaking stuff faster!"

Jaune sighed. "Well, that's the problem. You gotta get the **[Dancing]** skill to level seventy-five first. I actually started at level eighty, so… kinda unfair. Speaking of unfair, I have twenty stat points. What should I put them in?"

Ruby heard the two magic words and flowed over to Jaune. "Okay, so what you want to do is increase the stat that would be the most beneficial to you in the long run! Your Semblance is 'Paladin', so it's believable that you would put them in Vitality to raise your HP, but you could also raise your INT to get better grades here as well as increasing your aura capacity. Then there's luck, which just tips the balancing act of it more in your favor, increasing the odds of good stuff happening, but the better part of it is that it keeps less horrible stuff from happening to you after the good stuff. It also does the basic gamer stuff like increasing drop rates and critical hits and all that."

Jaune nodded as he stared at Ruby. "And what about the other three?"

Ruby thought for a bit. "For STR, there's no real use for it if you can't hit your target, DEX is a good choice too, but seeing as you're a sword and shield user, you would really only use that for movement speed, which you can easily increase through training. And WIS is finding loopholes or playing strategy games. It's really good for you as well."

Jaune stared at his stats, then put ten points in VIT, and ten in WIS. "… Okay… that felt weird."

Ruby took a deep breath then sighed. "Well, I might as well try and get one last point in my DEX and get it to fifty. Blake! Want to help me with that?"

Blake was already attacking Ren with her weapons. "As long as I'm in you're party, I'm helping you, Ruby! You need one more point, right? Shouldn't take too long."

Ruby sighed and then looked at Jaune. "How about you Jaune? Wanna race?"

Jaune shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He handed his weapons to Pyrrha, then turned back to Ruby. "No powers, okay?"

Ruby pouted. "No fun… But I guess that's fair. I'll also handicap myself by making myself slower." She equipped the ankle weights Yang gave her and took off running.

Jaune gaped, then ran after the raven-haired reaper. "H-Hey! No one said 'go'!"

* * *

Yang yawned as she walked through Vale. "Soooo… bored… I know that I volunteered to get books, but nothing fun is going on!"

"Hey there, sweet cheeks!"

Yang's bored face became serious as she turned around to see a guy stumbling towards her. ' _Oh great. Looks like he's drunk. Maybe I should…'_ She then looked to see his level.

 **Bad Luck Charm**

 **Qrow Branwen**

 **LVL: ?**

Yang chuckled. "Uncle Qrow! It's me, Yang!"

Qrow leaned forward with his eyes squinted. "Oh. Hey there Yang. Didn't… see you there… Did you see this hot blonde chick walk by…? 'Bout your height?"

Yang rolled her eyes and walked to her Uncle. "I… think you had a little much. Did she have long hair?"

Qrow shook her head. "Nope. If she did, then I wouldn't have said anything. I don't go for long-haired hotties."

Yang scoffed with a smile. "Yeah, I've seen you in a bar, just letting all of those women flirting with you just bounce off your skin. What else are you doing?"

Qrow immediately sobered up. "Caught me huh? Well, it's classified work that you can't know about. Also, she said that she'd buy me drinks and I didn't get any!" He pulled his flask from his jacket and unscrewed the lid. "So, how're you and your sister doing? Did classes start yet?"

Yang shook her head. "Nope. They should start later today though. I'm just here to get some books."

Qrow's eyes widened and reeled back. "My Yang would never study! Who are you?!"

Yang smirked. "I don't like it, but I have to get them. Plus, I never said that I was going to read them. Probably just stay in my dorm room and play games."

Qrow chuckled and then ruffled Yang's hair. He was one of the three people who were allowed to touch her hair. "That's my girl. Say… you wanna go out and get a drink with your Uncle? Maybe bash some heads in?"

Yang saw a notification that the party entered a dungeon. "Not today Uncle Qrow. Maybe later. I have to get back to Beacon. Ruby's been getting herself into more danger than usual, and it's not just her being awkward. Later!" She ran off towards the airship dock with a smirk.

Qrow pulled his flask out of his jacket and took a very long swig of the whiskey inside of it. He quickly put it away as soon as he felt the slightest bit of drunkenness affecting him. "Okay… time to ask Oz about what the hell Ruby's doing there." He casually walked towards the air dock, then suddenly disappeared into the crowd. A raven took off in the same direction.

A blonde haired woman chuckled as she took off a wig, revealing Charcoal black hair. She smiled as her orange eyes glowed ominously. "So her name is Ruby... Interesting. I'll have to keep an eye on her." She walked into an alleyway and then disappeared into a pillar of flames.

* * *

Ruby panted heavily as she held her knees. "Jeez… I'm… so tired…And I didn't even get my DEX point…"

Jaune was flat on the ground, his chest heaving. "I don't… think… that I… can run anymore…"

Nora grinned as she held up the two exhausted party members. "Oh, you guys are lightweights! You gotta get pumped up! Work through the exhaustion! Smash things! EAT PANCAKES!"

"Nora!" Ren checked his scroll. "Classes are starting soon you guys. We should get going." He then looked at Ruby. "So how do we leave the dungeon?"

Ruby nodded and then held her hand out. "Umm… **[Dungeon Projection: Escape]**?" She looked around and then shrugged. "I guess nothing happe-woah." She felt this intense pressure around her and then yelped as she fell to the ground. "Ow. Nora! Why did you drop… me…?" She looked around to see a black void. "Son of a… Game! Where am I?" She waited for a response but then sighed. "Right. The tutorial isn't working, and it's not telling me where I am.

" _Honestly Yu, why do we have to do this when the case is over?"_

Ruby looked around, very confused. "Who's there?"

" _We have to do these to get better missions Naruto. Even if these kinds are so troublesome."_

Ruby whipped around behind her to see a bloodied child with impossibly black hair covering his eyes. He grinned, his teeth gleaming menacingly.

" _ **Miss me?"**_

Ruby held her head as the words were spoken right into her mind. She closed her eyes, then felt something brush past her cloak. She unfurled her weapon and looked around frantically. She then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and visibly relaxed. Her eyes opened again, all emotion drained from them. "Who are you?"

 ** _"I'm hurt Gamer. You DON'T remember me. Well, that's just how these things go! I'll see you around, miss 'Rose'." The voice began to laugh loudly at Ruby holding her head._**

The darkness around Ruby faded and Ruby was being shaken by Nora.

Nora slapped Ruby hard. "Ruby! Answer me! Why won't you tell me that you like pancakes?!" She was about to slap Ruby again, when she noticed that her eyes had opened. "Ruby! Tell me that you like pancakes!"

Ruby looked around calmly, then nodded with a smile. "Especially with strawberries and whipped cream on top!" ' _WHAT WAS THAT?!'_

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **Eldritch Secrets Quest Line Activated!**

 **Quest #1!**

 **Eldritch Secrets: Bloody Boy**

 **Main Objective: Discover who that boy was**

 **Rewards: Next quest in the line unlocked**

 **Failure: Death**

 **This quest cannot be denied.**

' _Eldritch? The heck is that?'_ Ruby stared at the quest and then sighed. "Sorry, I spaced out for a second. Where are we going?"

Weiss let out an exasperated sigh and then shook her head. "We're going to class. Come on." She grabbed Ruby's wrist and dragged her away.

Ruby yelped and then waved goodbye to team JNPR. "I'll see you guys after class!" She then yanked her arm out of Weiss's grasp and flipped out of the way of a punch from Yang. "Yang! You didn't take long to get the stuff."

Yang grinned at Ruby. "Well, it wasn't hard stuff to find. Oh, I ran into Qrow on the street! He was drunk."

Ruby sighed. "What else is new?"

Yang thought for a second. "Well, his title was 'Bad Luck Charm'. Anyways, let's get to class!"

* * *

Qrow walked down a dark alleyway as the light faded around him. He quickly checked his scroll and saw that it wasn't even noon yet. "Damn. I'm a little busy right now, so can we skip to the part where you run in fear?"

There was an ominous laughter coming from the darkness. "So presumptuous. One man against an army? I highly doubt that even a trained hunter could do that!" The laughter grew louder.

Qrow sighed and then pulled his sword out from behind him. "Alright then. Wanna see me prove you wrong?"

The laughter subsided and then a blade hooked to a chain shot from the darkness. It stabbed into the ground next to Qrow's feet. "Next time you won't be so fortunate!"

Qrow rolled his eyes and then grabbed onto the chain and pulled with little effort, making a masked man fly towards him. He then lazily drove the man's head into the ground with his foot, then just ground his heel on the guy's head. "You know, it's creeps like you that make me drink. Well, one of many reasons. Why'd you attack me?"

The masked man made no noise.

Qrow looked down and then pulled the mask off of the man to reveal a cloth face. "Shit. A puppeteer. You guys are always annoying!" He then closed his eyes. He dodged out of the way of a few more weapons being thrown at him. He then heard a can clattering to his left and someone cursing under their breath. He opened his eyes and they gleamed red for a moment. "Found you." He was then stabbed through the chest by a greatsword. His form faded.

The puppeteer looked around frantically. ' _Dammit! Where'd he go? He couldn't have just left!'_

Qrow loomed over the man and then chopped his neck, knocking him out. "Huh. That actually works." He then looked around to see the darkness fading. "Well, that was easy." He simply walked deeper into the alleyway, then felt something coming for him. "Oum… there's more…?!" He looked up to see a masked woman holding a gun to his head. "Well… shit."

The woman's mask shifted slightly, seemingly smirking as she pulled the trigger. There was only a clicking sound. "What…?!" She quickly retreated and then checked her ammo clip and saw that it was full. "It jammed? But I make sure that doesn't happen!"

Qrow sighed as he crouched above the woman. "Thinking out loud is a terrible habit, you know. Tends to get you killed." He then grabbed the woman's head and then slammed it against the roof, making a small amount of blood beginning to leak from her head. "Okay. Who's left?" He looked around and saw a few people's limbs barely peeking out from their hiding places. "Let's see… one useless lackey… two useless lackeys. Oh. A whopping _three_ useless lackeys." He chuckled. "Not that fun, or original, but points for using a classic. It'll just give me more badass points when I take you guys out." He appeared behind one of them and punched him in the temple, incapacitating them immediately. He did the same to the second one and then appeared in front of the third one. "So, you're going to tell me where your damn boss is or I'll take this sword, and…" He made a hole with his thumb and index finger and pointed the tip of his blade through the hole. "I think that you get the idea."

The man whimpered in fear and then nodded, his voice slightly muffled through his stereotypical ninja outfits. "O-Okay! Okay! I'll tell you everything!"

Qrow nodded and then stabbed his sword into the stone roof. "Now then, why don't you start with those stupid outfits of yours? Ninjas are fun in fantasy, but I've never met one stupid enough to attack in broad daylight."

The man paled. "W-Well, our employer insists on it! Something with their heritage or something. Calls himself Mada… something. I don't know! I only eavesdropped on conversations!"

Qrow grabbed onto the man's shirt and then pulled him close, his eyes gleaming dangerously. "Where can I find him…?"

* * *

Ruby groaned as she rested her chin on her palms. "Sooooo… bored…" She began to draw stuff in her notebook because she was bored.

 **You have rediscovered a skill!**

 **By making marks on a surface with a writing material, you have regained the skill [Drawing]**

 **Drawing** **(Passive) LVL: 17 EXP: 52.83%: Drawing at it's finest! Well, not yet, but… yeah.**

 **17% increase in quality of art**

 **Unlocks [?] at LVL 25**

 **Unlocks [?] at LVL 75**

 **Unlocks ? at LVL MAX**

Ruby stared at the skill, then sighed as she dismissed it, doodling again. There was an immediate change in the quality of her art. "When's the professor going to get here?"

Weiss glared at Ruby. "Be patient! He still has five minutes to get here. And we've only been here for…" She checked her snow-white watch that she wore sometimes. "… Thirty seconds! Are you serious?!"

Ruby groaned even louder. "But it's felt like mooooonths…"

Yang patted Ruby on the back. "Don't worry sis! That usually how long it takes for some people to get chapters out in their stories." She then looked over at Blake. "Right? I'm not making things up, am I?"

Blake shook her head as she closed her book. "No, you aren't. Some au-"

The door to the class was kicked open and a slightly rotund, middle-aged man walked into the classroom. He wore a double-breasted burgundy suit with the piping and buttons both a golden color. His boots were standard issue cavalry boots. "Good morning class! I am Professor Peter Port and welcome to 'Hunting Grimm 101', or as I like to call it, 'How to slay monsters!'" He chuckled and then turned around. "Some people call the Grimm monsters, others call them demons. Some even refer to them as prowlers of the night!" He chuckled again. "Yes, the Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as my _prey_!" Port laughed with pride at his claim, then cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. "And you shall too upon graduating from this academy!"

Ruby looked at her team, then groaned softly as she began to draw again. Though she fell asleep soon after she started.

Weiss looked over at Ruby and growled quietly from frustration.

Port thought for a second. "Where was I? Oh yes! Vale and the other three kingdoms are safe havens in our chaotic world. Our planet is absolutely _teeming_ with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to bits!"

 _A woman in a white cloak panted as she ran from a large monster. She turned around and attempted to use her Semblance to destroy the large Grimm, but it was too powerful. She closed her eyes, and just as she was about to accept her fate, her eyes snapped open and a powerful silver light came from her eyes. She fell on her back, panting heavily. She looked up at the creature and found that it had been completely turned to stone. She walked over to it and then smiled softly. She beat it. The woman turned around and then gasped as she felt something stab into her chest. She looked down and it was a-_

Ruby gasped loudly as she woke up, and began to hyperventilate before her **[Gamer's Mind]** kicked in. She looked at her hands, then up in front of her the see Professor Port looking right at her.

"Are you focused now, Miss Rose?"

Ruby nodded shakily. "Y-Yes, sir! Sorry!" She rubbed the back of her head and then looked at her teammates to see them all looking at her funny. "…What?"

Yang leaned closer to Ruby from behind Weiss. "Your eyes were glowing for a hot second. We're going to have a team talk after class, okay?"

Weiss whispered to the two siblings. "I agree. There shouldn't be any secrets between us. Well, not many, at the very least.

Blake whispered to Ruby from her left side. "Just tell us what that was and we'll leave you alone."

The three other girls stared at Blake before looking to the right to see her reading. They looked back to the left and saw that she was gone. Yang cleared her throat. "O…kay… anyways, let's just get through the classes and then we talk about weird stuff."

Ruby nodded and tried to listen to Professor Port's story/gloating, and immediately wanted to go back to sleep.

* * *

Qrow walked into a dark room and groaned immediately. "Great. Gonna be like this huh?" He sighed and then pushed the bangs out of his face. "Alright then." He walked forward at a casual pace deeper into the room.

"Stop."

Qrow groaned louder as he stopped. "This is really cliche. Can we just cut to the part where I beat your ass?"

The lights flashed on and sitting on the other end of the room was a man with much longer black hair, an orange spiral mask, and a black coat with red clouds on the bottom of it. "Your insolence is amus-"

Qrow snickered.

The man tilted his head. "What's so funny?"

Qrow smirked as he looked up at the man. "What the hell are you wearing?! And you practically stole your hairstyle from my sister! Am I supposed to take you seriously?!" He pointed at the man's mask. "I mean, that mask is shitty enough, but come on!"

The man growled and then flickered behind Qrow wielding a… giant fan. The handle was wrapped in bandages, and there was a chain attached to the end of it.

Qrow flipped over the attack as he drew his blade. ' _He's fast, but he's using a fan?! The hell is he going to do with it?! Beat me to death?!'_

The man flickered above Qrow. "Yes. I'm going to beat you to death with a fan." He swung the fan seemingly as hard as he could, the wind being blown hard enough to make it nearly razor sharp.

Qrow scowled and flickered out of the way, landing on the ground with his sword ready. He flicked the blade down and began to fire at the man, beginning to focus more as his drunken state faded. Qrow then stepped out of the way of the fan being embedded into the ground. He looked at the chain and saw that it wasn't normal metal, but it was very worn down and could break at any moment. ' _Good.'_

The man yanked the weapon back to him, stabbed it into the ground and made some weird symbols with his hands. " **Katon! Gōka Mekkyaku!** " A slot opened up on the mask and the man took a deep breath before releasing a stream of fire from his mouth that quickly became a giant wall of flames that advanced towards Qrow.

Qrow grimaced, all of his drunkenness gone now. "What the hell?!" He channeled his Aura into his blade and released a large energy slash that cut through the flames for just long enough for Qrow to get through. "Gotta admit, I didn't see that one coming! You got a pretty strong fire semblance there buddy!"

The man seemed to stand up straighter. "That was not a paltry Semblance." He began to make more hand signs.

Qrow took a small dagger out of his coat pocket and tossed it at the man with frightening accuracy. "Yeah no. I'm not stupid." He flickered behind the guy and then began to fight him on his own terms.

The man quickly took his fan and blocked the dagger while spinning to block Qrow's sword strike. He then spun on the handle and tried to hit Qrow with a kick to the face, and failed. He flickered away from Qrow and then snapped. Clouds of something appeared next to him and soon dispersed, revealing five perfect clones of the guy.

Qrow cursed under his breath and then flicked a switch on his handle, his blade beginning to shift into a more curved form. "Alright. I guess it's time to get serious." He moved his bangs out of his face again and adjusted his grip as his sword handle opened up at the bottom and a much longer handle replaced it. The stick itself was curved and stained red. The sword handle was split in two, one half of it a third of the way down the stick, and the other two-thirds of the way down.

The man snapped again and he rushed Qrow along with his five copies, each one attacking at a different pace and angle.

Qrow spun his scythe fast enough for it to simply look like a circle as he deflected the barrage of attacks against him. He snarled as he spun his scythe, eventually bisecting one of the clones. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "This is just cheating you prick!"

The man chuckled darkly as him and another clone jumped away from Qrow. They began to do more hand signs.

Qrow growled loudly. "Hell no!" His very dark red aura flared around him as he slashed through the other three clones at blinding speeds, then appeared behind the two versions of the man, streaks of red coming from his eyes. He quickly slashed his scythe in an arc and then flickered to the other side of the room to witness the one he decapitated was a clone.

The man smirked as his mask fell off. "You're finished. **Katon: Ryūen Hōka no Jutsu!"** He took another deep breath and more fire came from his mouth to form dozens of fireballs that shot towards Qrow.

Qrow growled again and dashed towards the man, slashing through whatever weird fireball with freaking teeth that got near. He leaned slightly out of the way of the large fan and then glanced at the fan just in time to see a single link on the chain snap. He grabbed onto the chain part that the man was holding, yanked him forward while he was still slightly unbalanced, and then hit him hard in the stomach with the blunt end of his scythe. "Believe it or not, I need you alive." He turned his Aura mostly off and watched as the man was sent tumbling, and was then embedded into a wall, unconscious. The man had very fair and pale skin. Qrow rubbed the back of his head as his scythe returned to being a sword. "Geez. You really _do_ look like my sister."

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I know that** **in the other one I said that I wouldn't be able to get another chapter out so soon, but hey, this one was nearly finished anyway. I just needed to make Qrow even more of a badass in here than he already is.**

 **Qrow: I need a drink. Wh-**

 **Top left above the fridge behind the fake panel. I hope that you all enjoyed this, I'll explain how there's Naruto jutsu in a RWBY fanfic in the next chapter! See you all then!**


	8. Elements and a bit more Qrow

**Hello peoples! Welcome back to this story of mine! And I won't spoil anything about the new episode of RWBY, so I'll just get to the-**

 **Qrow: God damn kiddies making me fight fake ninjas…**

 **You're drunk. Go splash your face, or just get in a fight. That should work. Anyways, let's get right to the reviews!**

 **Astra Myst: It will be explained, as I will keep saying. It's not that far into the chapter.**

 **merendinoemiliano: I'm glad that you enjoyed at least half of the chapter. The whole Madara thing will be explained, don't worry. And while Persona users are feasible in this universe, Pokemon are absolutely not. Add to the fact that it doesn't really mesh well with the Gamer anyways and most certainly doesn't work with RWBY. And about the cannon fights. I meant that** _ **I**_ **can't give justice to the fights, as I'm not that good of an author. Jaune… well, that's spoilers to the actual show, so I can't say. And RWBY just has to make something to get that skill back.**

 **Guest: I apologize if you found my writing insufficient, however, while I am young, please note that this was also in my early days of writing and I invite you to read the remainder of this story wholeheartedly. It just seems like a shame that I caused someone to stop reading because of my terrible early attempts at humor, and yes, it was unrealistic, but this is also fiction, and I was trying too hard to capture the characters then.**

 **SonatiShinome: I realize that I've said this already to you, but I will repeat it simply because I don't wish to leave anyone out. Well, like I said, this is only a glance that will likely never be explored again after this chapter, as it's just a quick glance at the Naruto universe. And I realize that it is true, but that's because people integrate it permanently into their story. In my case, it would only be dungeons, which won't be active unless Ruby enters the dungeon, which allows me some more creative freedom when it comes to crossovers, but only if I stick to dungeons. And while you are correct about the OOC moment with some of the characters, in Ruby's case, this was not out of character, as it was shown in the actual show that she tends to fall asleep in class, like any kid who's bored. Yes, she's intelligent and clever, but she's still a kid who will do things that a kid will do, like draw during boring segments of class, or even fall asleep. And yes, the entire last chapter was sub-par at best, but I'm going through a rough patch right now. That's not an excuse, just an explanation of what happened to make me even write that. But I don't think that it completely fails at making Qrow look good, because he doesn't really need it, but it gives a glimpse at what is upper limits are, and how far he can go from his normal walking around state. And I do want to finish this. It will just take a while, as the canon story isn't finished either.**

 **Pokemonever1994: Will be explained soon! I've put this off for long enough anyway!**

 **Blazing heart frigid soul: I couldn't find the specs for Blake's weapons, so I wasn't sure what they were called. And the Madara thing will be explained.**

 **draconianking: No need to beg! Really, don't. It makes me feel like an awful person when people beg something of me.**

 **Junior VB: Yes to all of these things, though the ninjas won't stay very long. At all**

 **Shugokage: Thanks! I know that it's not healthy, but this is what I tend to do all day instead of going outside.**

 **Now then! First, let me hide my booze from Qrow so that he doesn't pass out drunk, and then we can get going!**

 **Qrow: You hide the booze, I hide your liver.**

 **What?**

 **Qrow: You heard me.**

… **Aaaanyways…**

 **[WARNING FROM FUTURE ME: VERY LONG AN AT THE BOTTOM! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!]**

* * *

"Speech"

'Scroll Message'

' _Thought'_

 **Gamer Notifications/Descriptions**

* * *

Ruby was sitting in the woods near Beacon next to an unlit campfire. "Okay… I have the wood, now I have to light it somehow…" She then looked up to see Yang hanging upside-down from a branch. "And don't blow it up. Please."

Yang groaned as she disengaged her weapons. "Come on sis! Why are you making it so hard on yourself?" She dropped down from the tree and then sighed. "Seriously, let me light it up!"

Ruby shook her head. "I need to level up my **[Survival]** skill. And I just feel like doing it myself." She then sighed and began to stare at the pile of wood. "...Hmm…" She stared for a good hour, then groaned in defeat. "Okay, Yang…"

Yang smiled and then fired off a single dust round at the pile of wood, immediately lighting it up. "There you go, sis! One campfire!"

Ruby rolled her eyes with a smile. "Thanks." She then looked at her hand. "Alright. Let's try this again, okay guys?" She then closed her eyes. " _I call to the spirits of fire! Hear my plea!"_ She then thrust her hand into the fire. It...It was cold.

" _Silver-eyed warrior… The spirits hear you. Tell us what your greatest desire is."_

Ruby thought for a moment, before smiling. " _I want to become a great huntress like mom and dad… and I want to help people. But I want to do it my way...because the ways right now aren't working all that great."_

" _Very well… your guide to the ways of fire has been chosen… Please contact her often."_

Ruby nodded, then yelped as the flames suddenly grew hot. She pulled her hand back and watched as the flames grew brighter and hotter, before suddenly shooting to form a large pillar. She watched as a woman-like figure began to form in the flames.

"You have summoned the great Afrit* Marid**!" The pillar suddenly exploded outwards to reveal a woman with tan baggy pants, a somewhat short white, charred shirt and a large, flaming spear on her back. She stared down at Ruby. "For what purpose am I here?"

Ruby and Yang both stared up at the newly summoned woman. They blinked at the same time, then had sparkles in their eyes. "Woah…!" Ruby shook her head and then looked into Marid's eyes. "I have summoned you here to forge a contract."

Marid stepped out of the fire that Yang created and walked closer to Ruby, her footsteps leaving a trail of flames behind her. "You do realize what you are saying, right little girl? You understand the depth of this decision? For once you forge this contract, you can never return to your previous life."

Yang snickered. "I don't think that's a problem for Ruby. I mean, just a few months ago, her life already changed entirely."

Marid looked at Yang with a smirk. "I think I like you." She then pulled her spear from her back, spun it above her head with one hand and then stabbed it into the ground in front of Ruby. "If you truly wish to follow through with this contract, then you must be willing to give up your life. Take my spear and drive it through your chest."

Ruby stood up and then stared deeper into Marid's eyes as she grabbed the spear.

Marid smirked. "You show promise, but do you have the nerve to do what needs to be done?"

Yang looked at Ruby. "Wait, you aren't really going to stab yourself with that, are you?"

Ruby smiled at Yang. "It'll be fine!" She then pressed the tip of the spear to her chest.

Yang grabbed Ruby's wrist. "Sis! Come on! You're going to kill yourself! Don't be stupid!"

Ruby looked Yang in the eyes. "Yang, trust me. I got this!" She flowed out of Yang's grasp and quickly stabbed herself.

Yang ran towards Ruby, her arm outstretched. "Ruby NO!"

Ruby gritted her teeth at the brief second of pain, then suddenly drove the spear much deeper, the tip of the spearhead stabbing out of her back. She gasped as the spear suddenly became flames that wrapped around her. She was lifted into the air by whatever was going on and suddenly felt the flames grow a million times hotter. She began to scream in agony.

Marid crossed her arms in front of her with a smirk as she watched.

Yang turned towards Marid, her eyes red and her hair glowing very bright. "What did you do to her?!"

Marid glanced at Yang. "Just watch mortal."

Ruby screamed for a minute longer, then closed her eyes as she forced the pain away. She let out another scream as she forced her eyes open and a very bright silver light came from her. The flames were forced into Ruby's body and she soon collapsed onto the ground, the light completely gone. She groaned as she tried to stay conscious, barely able to do so because of her Gamer power. Just then, a notification popped up in the corner of her vision.

 **Congratulations! You have obtained the power of Fire! You may now access the vast pool of magic that lays dormant in the world! However, don't think that you can beat anything because you have magic. Once you run out of MP, you will not be able to cast spells, so ration them.**

 **Fire Affinity has reached Stage 1!**

 **You have unlocked the skill [Fireball]!**

 **Fireball** **(Active): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%: Beginner level pyromancy spell, can cause burns.**

 **Damage is based on INT + 10**

 **5% chance to inflict [Burning]**

Ruby stared at the notification as best as she could, then groaned as she stood up. "That… hurt a lot."

Marid walked over to Ruby and then formed her spear again. "The contract has been forged in fire and blood." She then slammed the blunted end of her spear on the ground and then began to fade into embers. "Call me again when you are ready."

Ruby looked around. "... Huh. I thought that there would be a summoning skill."

 **Please wait…**

Yang ran over to Ruby and grabbed her by her arms. She then began to shake her violently. "What is wrong with you Ruby?! Do you want to give me a heart attack?!"

Ruby looked down. "Sorry, Yang… but I had to do that."

Yang sighed, then hugged Ruby close. "Just… don't do that again… okay…?"

Ruby hugged Yang back. "Okay… I promise…"

Yang held Ruby close for a while, then let go of her sister. "I should head back. Are you going to stay out here for a bit?"

Ruby nodded and then sat down next to the still burning fire. "Yeah. Go have fun, Yang."

Yang chuckled in a way that made Ruby nervous. "Don't give me any ideas sis!" She then ran off, cheering as she launched herself into the air.

Ruby sighed as she stared at the fire. "…Okay." She stood and then held her hand out. " **[Dungeon Projection: Wonderland]"** She waited for a few moments, then sighed again when nothing happened. "Is my power glitching or somethi-" She heard a loud crack. Ruby looked down at her feet to see the ground beginning to open up beneath her. "O-Oh. Well… great." She then dropped quickly as the ground gave way.

* * *

Qrow sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "So let me get this straight. You guys are a group of people who call themselves ninja, use a weird power called chakra, and use said power to control the elements?"

Madara nodded. "Yes, that's exactly it."

Qrow stared into the man's eyes blankly. "…That's the stupidest thing that I've ever heard." He then pressed the tip of his sword against Madara's neck. "And you stole your name from a super-powered ancestor who probably never existed because you're the leader of this cult?"

Madara growled. "It is NOT a cult! Especially when the abilities granted by chakra are real!"

Qrow shot Madara in the chest. A blue shield of aura blocked the bullets. "You notice how you're not dead? That's your aura protecting you. Not some weird thing called _chakra_. Your entire belief system is based on something that doesn't exist."

Madara stared Qrow in the eyes. "I swear to you, chakra does exist! If I had a paltry fire semblance, how was I able to create those clones?"

Qrow shrugged. "Dust does amazing things. There's probably a cloning one out there." He fished around in Madara's pockets and then pulled out a somewhat clear, but a cloudy blue dust. "See? This is what you used."

Madara looked away. "That's simply because I have not mastered that Jutsu, so I am amplifying its effects with Dust!"

Qrow nodded as he pocketed the Dust. "Sure. And what do we use to activate Dust?"

Madara seemed very conflicted. "A-Aura, but I have discovered that you can use it to amplify chakra based attacks as well!"

Qrow nodded again. "Uh-huh." He then stood with a groan and took his flask out of his jacket. "Jesus… I was attacked by a cult. A pretty small one too if what you're saying is half true. I would've thought that you were the White Fang or something." He took a long swig of the gin inside of the flask. "Look, I'll let you do your whole 'chakra ninja' shtick, just stop attacking people, because if I find out that you've been doing so…" He looked down at Madara menacingly. "There will be no weird ass cult god on Remnant that can save you from me." He then walked out of the building while clipping his sword to his waist. "That was a waste of my time." He walked past a pillar and disappeared, a crow flying into the air instead.

* * *

Ozpin sipped at his coffee as he watched a large pillar of flames coming from the Emerald Forest. "Well Miss Rose, you certainly don't go back on your word."

Glynda walked into the room. "Professor Ozpin, may I have a word? It's about… her."

Ozpin looked back at Glynda. "Are we certain that it's her?"

Glynda nodded. "We're sure. In fact, Qrow is certain that she's involved."

Ozpin looked back at the forest. "Then you arrived here not a moment too soon… Gamer…" He sipped at his coffee again and then turned away as the pillar dissipated. "Salem is making her move… I believe that it is time to make ours." He then pulled out his scroll and called up Qrow.

Qrow was standing right outside of a bar. "What's up, Oz?"

Ozpin stared at his desk. "I need you to come in. There's something that I need to inform you about."

Qrow groaned. "Keep me from drinking… fine. Give me an hour." He then hung up.

Ozpin smiled. "That should give Miss Rose sufficient time to deal with her contract." He then looked into his coffee and saw a completely different person.

Ruby let out a pained groan as she stood up at the bottom of the hole. "Okay… that hurt."

"I can imagine so."

Ruby immediately pointed the end of her rifle at the voice to see a bony cat. "… Cheshire? What are you doing here?!"

Cheshire chuckled creepily. "While I could give you a very confusing riddle, and wreak havoc on your brain, in reality, I have no idea." He then looked around. "This Wonderland is significantly different from Alice's, and I have no idea what dangers you will face here. So… as the good kitty I am I will assist you, however I can." He grinned a toothy grin as a name and title appeared over his head.

 **Walker of Darkness**

 **Cheshire**

 **LV: 20**

Cheshire then stared at the words he saw above Ruby's head. "Now that _is_ interesting. It appears that I have the same abilities as you while I'm inside of your Wonderland."

Ruby glanced at her party list and saw that there was only Cheshire in there. "Maybe, but you were also automatically added to my party." She then flinched as a very loud noise rang out through the area. "What the heck was that?!"

 **Dungeon: Ruby's Wonderland!**

 **Party Buff: Increase EXP gain and Item Drop chance by 25% when equipped with a scythe or a rifle**

 **Enemy Buff: All enemy speed is increased by 50% of normal when equipped with a scythe or a rifle**

Ruby looked at the notification and then sighed. "I mean, that's pretty fair, but does there have to be an enemy buff?" She then looked down at Crescent Rose. "Well… at least it isn't _technically_ singling you out…"

Cheshire looked to his right and saw the path beginning to carve itself through the wall, eventually reaching a door. "Well, this seems vaguely familiar. Reminds me of when Alice was a child and was still innocent. She was always troubled, but there was a kind of beauty to her madness back then."

Ruby walked next to Cheshire and then stared at the door. "So, if you're here, what's with Alice? Is she okay?"

Cheshire nodded. "Alice is fine. Better than fine, actually. She's free of the puppeteer that was cutting the strings of her Wonderland." He then chuckled as he moved forward. "I actually believe that she is more stable than the first time she left."

Ruby moved with Cheshire, smiling. "That's really good to hear. I really wanted to do a little more to help her, but I don't think that was possible." She then looked around and saw blobs of black goop fall from the sky. Five of them to be exact.

 **Claws of Terror**

 **Eviscerating Ruin**

 **LVL: 25**

Cheshire chuckled darkly. "It seems that your monsters are stronger than Alice's. Makes sense, seeing as you are risking your life every day."

Ruby unfurled her scythe. "I don't understand why they're here though!"

Cheshire looked at his paw, then unsheathed his claws. "They aren't a reflection of your psyche like this place, no. They are a manifestation of forces outside of your mind attempting to destroy you." He looked at Ruby. "Someone must really hate you."

The Ruins made this terrible screeching noise as their doll mouths cracked open. If the heads had jaws, they would've unhinged to reveal rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth and a bladed tongue. Cracking sounds came from their claws as porcelain spikes began to protrude through the black ichor that made up their bodies.

Cheshire stared at the enemies. "It seems that's what sets your monsters aside from Alice's. They are more monstrous." He then faded into smoke and appeared against the wall, watching Ruby. "I can give you support, but to be honest, I can't fight worth a damn."

Ruby nodded and clutched her scythe harder. "That's okay! I'll protect you!" She dashed forward and slammed her scythe down towards one of the five enemies.

The Ruin leaped back to dodge and then let out a hissing screech as it pounced at Ruby.

The girl flowed out of the way and then cried out in pain as she was sent flying, a large gash on her side appearing very briefly before her clothes and body mended itself, HP being retracted instead. "What the hell…?" She then flowed out of the way of an aerial attack that another Ruin tried to hit her with. She grabbed onto Crescent Rose, pulled her out of the ground and then spun around to slice one of them in half. She smirked, then gasped as it quickly reformed. She flowed out of the way and looked at Cheshire. "I need an analysis!"

Cheshire nodded and his eyes began to glow an eerie yellow. "As for all Ruin enemies, go for the mask. And as for your power acting that way, this dungeon is a projection of your mind. You will bleed here, if only for a very brief moment. Be sure that they do not deal any mortal damage while you are in this state!"

The third Ruin screeched as it began to attack Ruby with a flurry of strikes that were fast enough to leave brief afterimages of its arms. It landed a fair few strikes, though most of its attacks were deflected.

Ruby panted as she watched her HP drain. "Damn it!" She jumped into the air and embers began to swirl around her. "Let's try this out!" She threw her hands forward and the embers nearly instantly coalesced into a fair sized **[Fireball]**. Ruby launched it at the enemies and saw the Ruins dodge the attack, but the fireball exploded. It wasn't a large explosion, but it did give Ruby an idea.

 **MP: 250/275**

Ruby landed on the ground behind a Ruin, hooked her scythe into its unhinged jaw and pulled the trigger of her weapon as she yanked it through its head. Her eyes became cold and calculated as she spun around and slashed through its head twice more before it faded into black smoke. ' _Four left.'_ She stared at the remaining Ruins and noticed something about their attack patterns. ' _They're only attacking me one at a time.'_ Ruby nodded to herself and she dashed towards the fourth Ruin that was also dashing towards her. Petals and embers surrounded her as she readied a **[Fireball]**. As soon as it was close enough, she fired the attack at the ground as she flipped over the creature, propelling herself into the air as she did fire damage to the Ruin. She quickly shifted Crescent Rose into a rifle and fired a gravity round into the back of its head, easily piercing the porcelain. The creature melted into black goop soon after.

Cheshire smirked. "As you've already noticed, your Dust rounds have different effects. Right now you only have Grade 1 Dust bullets. Gravity rounds deal more damage, Fire deals fire damage, your Grade 1 Lightning rounds aren't enough to deal lightning damage, but they can stun your enemies if you get a good shot in, and Frost rounds deal ice damage. Though, as you're a weapon fanatic, I'm certain that you already knew these things."

Ruby smirked as she swapped her magazines for Electric Dust. "Of course I know that. I also just learned that I really need to stock up on Grade 2 Lightning Dust!" She flowed out of the way of a strike that should have killed her and then fired her weapon. Out of the barrel came a small bolt of lightning connected to a bullet. It barely missed the mask and pierced the creatures neck. While no damage seemed to be inflicted, lightning arced through its goopy body. Ruby quickly closed the distance and stabbed through its porcelain eye socket with the spiked end of her grip. She then gritted her teeth as she yanked her weapon out through the side of its head, clearly dealing critical damage as it melted into goop. "Okay. Two

The two Ruins screeched and then dashed at Ruby at the same time, hitting her with very well placed slashes, and both ending their combos by trying to stab into Ruby's gut. Instead, she was blown back as her Aura seemed to get through its glitchy phase of not being a shield. Though the problem was…

 **AP: 0/1190**

She was out of Aura. The petals stopped forming off of Ruby's cloak and a crimson mist formed around her just to shatter immediately. "Oh no…" She shook her head and then held her scythe at her side. "I can do this… My AP will regen in a minute." She then dashed towards the two and then saw Cheshire appear behind one of them and slash at their head, his claws on his right front paw emitting a black smoke.

"My apologize Ms. Rose. I could not get involved until now, as they have broken the rules." Cheshire then wrapped his tail around the head of the Ruin he attacked and glared as he crushed the porcelain. "You see, the rules of confrontation are that only one attacker of each side may attack at a time. Once those rules are broken, anything goes." He then appeared on the right side of the remaining Ruin and slashed at it, making it jump back towards Ruby.

Ruby nodded and then hooked the head of the Ruin with her scythe and dragged it down, slamming the enemy into the floor. She then spun around and slammed the tip of her scythe into the head of the Ruin with as much force as she could muster. The ichor bubbled out quite a bit before dissolving. "Thanks for the info Cheshire."

 **!Battlelog!**

 **[Aura] has gained a level!**

 **[Fireball] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained 4 Porcelain Shards, 3 Vials of Ruin, 3000 Lien, and 1400 EXP**

Cheshire chuckled as he looked up at Ruby. "Well then Miss Rose, you should probably head home. There may be someone looking for you." He began to force Ruby out of the dungeon. "Next time we meet, your Wonderland will not look the same. It changes as your mindset does. The more you change, the more different this place is." He grinned a frightening grin. "Good luck, Ruby Rose."

Ruby tried to get the smoke to disperse. "No! Cheshire! I'm not done here yet! We haven't even gotten past the first room ye-"

* * *

Ruby gasped loudly as she shot up. She was still in the Emerald Forest. She looked around, then groaned. "Dammit, Cheshire…" She hopped up to her feet and then looked around. She looked at her party and saw that everyone was back. "Weird."

"What's weird?"

Ruby immediately readied a **[Fireball]** and spun around to strike whoever was behind her when her wrist was grabbed.

Qrow was staring at Ruby's hand. "That's new. Didn't think that you could do that."

Ruby sighed as the spell disappeared. "Sorry, Uncle Qrow… But everyone is sneaking up on me today! I'm a little jumpy." She then realized that her uncle didn't know about her power. "A-And I can explain the fire!"

Qrow chuckled. "I'm sure you can, but Oz needs me to check in with him, and I think it has something to do with you-" He held up his scroll to show a picture of Ruby and a knight chess piece behind her profile. It said that she was granted access to the Vault. "-considering that you're allowed to see Amber."

Ruby snatched the scroll away from Qrow and stared at the profile pic. It was the most embarrassing shot of her ever! It looked like she was surprised by something, with strawberries flying in the air in front of her AND behind her. She blushed as she handed her uncle his Scroll back. "I-I want a new picture…"

Qrow smirked as he put his scroll away. "I'll see what I can do. Now, do you want to come with me? Or will I see you there?"

Ruby looked around and could practically feel the Grimm watching her. She didn't want to be fighting Grimm alone. "I'll come with you uncle."

Qrow nodded as he picked Ruby up and held her under his arm. "Good choice, seeing that I won't be seeing you for a while. After this Oz is sending me on a long-term mission."

Ruby pouted. "Alright… I'll miss you…"

Qrow ruffled Ruby's hair. "I'll miss you too kiddo. Now let's get moving." He leaped off the ground towards the main tower on Beacon campus.

* * *

 ** **Name: Ruby Rose****

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: Beginning Grimm Slayer**

 **Semblance: Flowing Petals (Stage 2)**

 **LV: 21 Next Level: 14.51%**

 **HP: 950/950 (Regen: 19)**

 **MP: 275/275 (Regen: 8.5)**

 **AP: 1190/1190(Regen** **98.9** **(19+8.5 +** **71.4** **))**

 **STR: 31(33.48)**

 **VIT: 38(41.04)**

 **DEX: 49(52.92)**

 **INT: 11**

 **WIS: 26**

 **LUK: 11**

 **Lien: 20850**

 **Fragmented Petals: 1/?**

 **Stat Points: 10**

 **Traits:**

 **Silver Eyes (Stage 2): Low [Fear] status inflicted on minor Grimm, 10% chance for a premonition of the future**

* * *

 **Aura** **(Passive/Active): LV: 8 Cost: 1 AP per second: Aura. All hunters have one, and now, you have yours.**

 **+8% passive bonus to all physical stats (+16% when active)**

 **Shifts damage to AP until AP is depleted**

 **Allows for usage of your Semblance at will**

 **Unlocks Semblance progression**

 **Aura Transfer** **(Active): LV: 7 AP Cost: Special: Not many have the gift to restore aura, however, those who do are invaluable in all aspects of life.**

 **Allows for the transfer of one's aura to a target of their choosing.**

 **Rate of transfer is dependant on the user**

 **Range: 6 meters**

 **Maximum targets: 2**

 **Aura Recovery** **(Passive/Active): LV: 6 : The ability to recover Aura in battle, and at an increased rate!**

 **Passively increases Aura Regen by 6% of max Aura**

 **Converts Aura Charge rate to charge constantly, instead of once per minute.**

 **20 AP gained for each hour spent actively charging Aura**

 **Triples AP regen when active, but the user is immobile when charging**

 **Drawing** **(Passive) LVL: 17 : Drawing at it's finest! Well, not yet, but… yeah.**

 **17% increase to quality of art**

 **Unlocks [?] at LVL 25**

 **Unlocks [?] at LVL 75**

 **Unlocks "?" at LVL MAX**

 **Dungeon Projection** **(Active): LVL: 1 MP Cost: 20: A lost art of magic, only regained through otherworldly means.**

 **Project yourself in and out of dungeons**

 **Available dungeons: Blank, Grimm, Wonderland**

 **More info and dungeons will be released to you as the skill grows stronger.**

 **Dust Casting** **(Active): LVL: 2 Cost: Special: Over the years, the art of Mana spells were lost and were replaced with Dust.**

 **Allows for spells to be cast with Dust and AP instead of MP**

 **Grants usage of spells by using Dust as a catalyst for the spell in question**

 **Dust consumed can be in either crystalline or powdered form, though effects may vary.**

 **Element of Dust consumed MUST match the element for the spell.**

 **At higher levels, Dust can be used to empower spells as well as be used to cast them**

 **Fireball** **(Active): LV: 2 : MP Cost: 25 MP: Beginner level pyromancy spell, can cause burns.**

 **Strength is based on INT + 11**

 **6% chance to inflict [Burning]**

 **First Aid** **(Passive): LV: 1 : The path of the healer is much more difficult then the path of the Warrior. But is far more useful.**

 **+5% effectiveness to all healing skills**

 **Allows for crafting of healing items**

 **Gamer's Body** **(Passive) LVMAX: A skill only granted to the Gamer, it allows one to live their life as a video game.**

 **Fully restores all HP, MP, and AP upon rest, as well as removing all fatigue**

 **Removes all negative status effects upon rest.**

 **Gamer's Mind** **(Passive) LVMAX** **:** **A skill only given to The Gamer, it allows the Gamer always be able to think things through calmly and logically.**

 **Allows a peaceful state of mind**

 **Grants immunity to all psychological effects**

 **Grants immunity to all mental disorders (Past disorders do not intensify)**

 **Observe** **(Passive/Active): LV:8 The ability to look past the surface of an object. This skill allows the user to see ally and enemy status pages, and quite possibly discern true intentions.**

 **Grants information of the target to the user.**

 **Passively allows the user to view Names, Titles, Semblances, Status Effects and Levels.**

 **Rifle Mastery** **(Passive) LV: 27: While you may only train in one form of rifle, they are so similar that you get six skills in one!**

 **\+ 37% accuracy when using rifles**

 **\+ 30% Critical Hit chance when using rifles**

 **\+ 30% damage dealt when using rifles**

 **Scythe Mastery** **(Passive) LV: 33: Only a handful of people in the world have mastered the art of the reaper. Good luck!**

 **\+ 40% damage when using Scythes**

 **\+ 38% critical hit chance when using Scythes**

 **\- 45% durability loss to all Scythes**

" **?" granted at LVL: 50**

" **?" granted at LVL: MAX**

 **Survival** **(Passive): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%: The knowledge and skill to survive in the wild, weather you're on your own, or in a group.**

 **Knowledge on how to survive**

 **\+ 5% success to foraging**

 **\+ 5% success to all crafting items that fall under 'Survival'**

 **Teamwork** **(Passive): LVL: 3 : Working together against a common struggle is natural! Time to harness that instinct!**

 **Damage is increased by 13% when at least 4 members of the party are attacking the same enemy**

 **When in a party of at least 4, damage from singular enemies is reduced by 8%**

 **When in a party of at least 4, EXP gained in all things is increased by 3%**

 **Unarmed Mastery** **(Passive/Active): LV: 9 :**

 **The art of letting your fists do your talking.**

 **+10% to all unarmed damage**

 **+10% to all martial damage**

* * *

 ***Another name of a Djinn, or a Genie.**

 ****Arabic word for** _ **rebellious**_

 **I know...my chapters are getting shorter. I'm under stress with school, trying to find a job, stuff that people at least four years older than I am shouldn't be worrying about. So I'll get this off my chest because no one else in my life will listen to me, and this is really the only place that I can say this without being pitied… or loathed… or really openly mocked for saying what's on my mind. I take online classes, which helps me manage my time, I do all the cleaning in my house, which the only problem is that it takes up time from my studies. On top of that, I have to get my drivers license to even get to a theoretical job. But the most stressful thing is that everyone is constantly reminding me of what I should prioritize, and it's all FUCKING DIFFERENT! "Go to college" "Get a job" "Get married" "Have kids" ALL OF IT IS BULLSHIT! ….Hah… Okay… So, that's the cause. The effect is that it's causing me to be distracted, trying to find some way to relieve stress. Which means more time staying sane than actually doing the things I should be doing. Which in turn is making me more stressed and it'll go on and on. You all see where I'm going with this. All of this shit is keeping me from doing what I love to do, and that is create good content, a great story for you guys. And usually, my trick is to connect with each and every character on some level to get a real feel for them, and then just release the floodgates. But I'm so stressed now that I can't do that, and as a result my content is suffering from it. I started writing as a way to vent all of my edgy teen feelings away in a dark time, and it really worked, got all of that shit out so I can enjoy life, even if it was for a few moments. Whenever I finish one of these chapters, I always feel a sense of pride, of joy when I put that last period there. But I haven't felt that in months. So that's why I'm cutting this chapter short. I don't know how it'll turn out if I keep going… hell, I'm not sure if I'm even capable of writing the way I am right now… I guess while I'm at it, I should say why I chose mostly 'Gamer' stories. Simply put, I'm just a teeny bit delusional. I'm a coward in real life, I have difficulty managing my anger, and I'm delusional. It's a** _ **wonderful**_ **concoction. So I read this manhwa on Webtoons and I loved it enough that I wanted it to be real. Not all of it, obviously, but the 'Gamer' part...and I wanted to be that person. It's crazy, I know, but that's why I write those stories. Instead of acting on my delusions in crazy ways, I put myself in the character's shoes to get a glimmer of what it feels like. It's exhilarating, it's frightening, and above all else, it's maddening, because no matter how much I do this, no matter how much I try or pray to whatever being that could POSSIBLY do this, it won't happen. That's the biggest thought that goes through my head when I write these. 'None of it is real, it can never happen. Wake up.' And...I can't. That's all there is. It doesn't feel good to say this, but it felt much worse keeping it to myself. Sorry for dumping this on you guys, you don't deserve it… Have a good day everyone.**


End file.
